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4->'''Alan Schneider:''' Who or what is "Godot"?\
5'''Creator/SamuelBeckett:''' If I knew, I would have said so in the play.
6-->-- Interview before the first American production of ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot''
7
8[[SelfDemonstratingArticle What is this trivia page about? No comment]].
9
10Joy of joys, the author(s) of your favorite series is/are [[WordOfGod answering the fans' questions]]! Now's your chance to finally get some closure on [[SeriousBusiness pressing continuity issues]]! So you walk up and ask, "Was Bob really a [[RoboticReveal robot]]?".
11
12Their answers? "I dunno". "No comment".
13
14Congratulations. Instead of an answer, you just got the Shrug of God: author(s) intentionally not answering a question about their work.
15
16Before you get angry at them for being evasive, remember that they may have a reason for their ambiguity.
17* '''They're saving it for the future.''' Maybe the creators plan to address the point in an upcoming installment/spin-off/revival/etc., or at least want to retain the option to do so. If so, they won't want to give the answer away yet. Alternatively, they may wish to stop ''other'' people from writing about it, such as when they try to enforce a FanworkBan by not handing people information which would be more useful to fanfic authors than to anyone else.
18* '''It's better left ambiguous.''' Maybe the plot point in question was ''supposed'' to be [[NoEnding ambiguous]] or [[MindScrew senseless]]. Creators may think that [[RuleOfFunny it's funnier]] [[NoodleIncident that way]], or that [[RuleOfScary it's scarier]] [[NothingIsScarier that way]], or that ambiguity feels realistic (because RealLife isn't perfectly neat with no mysteries). They may think that overanalysing things detracts from them, disliking meticulous FanWank and its older brother, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic overzealous, full-time, academic literary analysis]]. Some creators may enjoy leaving ambiguity intact because they [[TeasingCreator just like]] [[TrollingCreator watching their fans squirm.]]
19* '''They want you to find your own answers.''' Maybe the creators don't want to say anything because the answer is actually hidden within the work and they want the fans to be attentive and uncover it for themselves (or don't feel that they should have to just give up the secret willy-nilly considering all the hard work they did to cleverly interweave it into the narrative). Even if the answer ''isn't'' out there, creators may still want the fans to come up with [[EpilepticTrees their]] [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory own]] [[WildMassGuessing answers]]. (''[[TheWalrusWasPaul Sheesh]].'') Some may firmly believe in the DeathOfTheAuthor theory and not feel their interpretations are any more valid than anyone else's.
20* '''Shrugging is safer.''' Maybe the possible answers to the question are sufficiently controversial that coming down on either side will provoke a backlash. The plot point may have sparked enough [[FlameWar debate]] in the fandom that ''any'' answer will cause a BrokenBase, or the issue may be particularly heated due to having religious, political or otherwise controversial implications that the authors would really rather avoid (such as "Does {{God}} actually exist in [[FantasyKitchenSink this setting]]?"). Fending off attacks by MoralGuardians (or [[FauxHorrific worse]], {{shipp|ing}}ers) may require a shrug when the question is (and it ''frequently'' is), "So what were Alice and Bob ''really'' doing while off-camera after that {{UST}}-filled scene?" A truthful answer to such a question would result in people screaming for the creator's head on a chopping block no matter what the truth is because there are two sides of the issue[[note]]For example, in the case of the "What were Alice and Bob really doing?" question, if the answer is "Yes, they were having sex" then that would get people complaining about the show/movie being inappropriate but if the answer is "[[InnocentInnuendo No, they weren't having sex, it was just made suggestive as a joke]]", then people who ship Alice and Bob might get mad at the writers for not making their favourite ship canon.[[/note]]. Sometimes, it's the entire work that is tricky, with creators [[OldShame wishing that they never wrote it]] and are trying to just [[CanonDiscontinuity pretend it never happened]].
21* '''They don't know.''' The creators shrug because they genuinely don't have an answer to the question. For example, they might honestly not remember what they were thinking when they wrote that particular bit, or they might be just [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants making it up as they go]], and have no more idea what's going on than any of the viewers. Sometimes, the question is about some detail completely tangential to the story which the author(s) never considered. Although it might be cool if the author would just [[AssPull make up answers on the spot]] to questions about supporting character #23's favorite pizza topping, you can hardly blame the author who doesn't.
22* '''Orders from above''': Sometimes the writer is not the one who has the final word over the work and everything about it. He is still the one who will face those questions during interviews, he may even ''want'' to answer, but the executives above him may have forbidden him from answering certain questions; and an evasive answer is still better for the audience than a plain and rude refusal to answer at all. As for the reasons of the executives, it can be any of the previous ones. This may happen with works set in a SharedUniverse, to prevent a writer from making a mess with topics that will be dealt with by other writers.
23
24Not to be confused with FlipFlopOfGod, where the author has a definite answer which has ''changed'' over time, or with CreatorsApathy, which is when a creator admits to not caring about or trying on their project.
25
26Contrast with the HandWave, and "AWizardDidIt", which are given in response to questions about {{Plot Hole}}s or the workings of a story's {{Phlebotinum}}. In contrast, the Shrug of God is given in response to more mundane questions: questions that should have a simple, straightforward answer. Don't mistake it for AscendedFanon which, while it may come with a shrug from the creator, is quite different: Ascended Fanon is when the creator accepts, for any reason, the explanations offered by fandom to questions raised by that author's work. The shrug comes when the author refuses to take a stand about either those questions or any possible answer to them.
27
28In other words, if the question is "How does this work?" and the answer is "Magic" with no further explaination, then it's a HandWave. If the question is "What happened?" and the answer is "Beats me", it's the Shrug of God. If the answer is "Magic" then changed later on to "[[WeirdScience Science]]", it's FlipFlopOfGod.
29
30When the author insists on [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot quashing]] a theory, see {{Jossed}}, which is the opposite. When the author explains but in supplementary material see AllThereInTheManual. For those stories that are deliberately ambiguous, see NoEnding and RiddleForTheAges.
31
32In lieu of a definitive WordOfGod, someone connected to the production may chime in with the WordOfSaintPaul, or anyone with sufficient credibility may offer up the WordOfDante.
33
34The inverse of AscendedFanon. Compare NoodleIncident. See also TheWalrusWasPaul, LooseCanon.
35
36See also BellisariosMaxim and the MST3KMantra. Often leads to FanFicFuel if the fans are upset with this.
37----
38!!Examples:
39
40[[foldercontrol]]
41
42[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
43* ''Anime/AngelsEgg'': Having made the [=OVA=] during a period of mental health struggles, Creator/MamoruOshii is at a loss to explain what ''anything'' in the anime means.
44* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'''s creator Isayama Hajime has a tendency to [[TrollingCreator troll fans]] and often responds to requests for information with a shrug or vague answer that clarifies absolutely nothing.
45** Infamously, [[AmbiguousGender Hange's gender]] was first questioned by a fan that thought the character was female but looked "manly" sometimes. In response, Isayama stated he wouldn't answer. At the beginning of 2014, he finally declared... that it doesn't matter and fans are free to determine the character's gender as they want. He then invited fans to decide the gender of ''any character'' as they please.
46** Levi's age is defined vaguely as [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looks]].
47** He's rumored to have invited fans to consider any and all pairings' potential canonicity.
48* When asked if the ending of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' was meant to be [[HappilyEverAfter happy]] or [[DownerEnding sad]], director and co-creator Goro Taniguchi's response was "Decide for yourself". Though rather than a shrug, this may simply be him acknowledging that everyone has a different opinion and not trying to force his beliefs upon the fanbase.
49** In regards to [[spoiler:Lelouch's apparent death at the end]], however, this trope was averted; in several post-series interviews, other staff members have indicated that [[spoiler:he's really dead]]. Still, during the broadcast the official website had claimed that [[spoiler:Nunnally died during the Tokyo disaster in order to keep her eventual return surprising]] and Sunrise itself has [[http://www.sankakucomplex.com/wp-content/gallery/misc-images-xiii/img_1032045_22102323_0.jpg shown]] that they might well prefer to tease fans like us and let everyone duke it out. It's still possible that [[spoiler:Lelouch was originally meant to stay dead until the writers eventually want to retcon it]].
50*** The ''Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection'' movie firmly shows that [[spoiler:Lelouch did die, but C.C. subsequently brought him back to life (although he initially CameBackWrong)]]. Thing is, this is a sequel to the compilation movies, which are a subtle AlternateContinuity to the original series, so it's an open question if this answer even applies to the original continuity.
51*** The exact phrasing was something along the lines of "[[spoiler: [His (Lelouch's) death] was the price he had to pay for a peaceful world.]]" And, depending on your interpretation, ''that'' can still be taken to mean anything.
52* When asked if [[spoiler:Spike]] of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' actually died, Shinichiro Watanabe said he didn't know and jokingly said there could be a sequel. It's anyone's guess whether it's for the fourth, fifth, or both reasons.
53** By contrast, Watanabe has also answered questions asked by those who seemed to assume [[spoiler:Spike]] must be dead with something to the effect of "Did you see him die? I didn't, he seemed like he was seriously lacking some sleep".
54** [[FlipFlopOfGod However]], in an interview he did shortly before the premiere of ''Anime/SpaceDandy'' he instead said [[spoiler:he survived.]]
55* In the interviews for ''Manga/DeathNote How to Read 13'', Ohba and Obata left the answers to several questions (mainly about the ending) for the reader to decide.
56-->"''Death Note'' is about readers coming to their own conclusions. Sorry".
57** Also going for the numbers over heads which could tell how long that person had to live, but only {{shinigami}} understood. It was said there was a complicated math equation, but it was forgotten.
58** In [[http://www.deathnotenews.com/drew-nelson-interview.html an interview]] with Creator/DrewNelson about his role as [[OneSceneWonder Matt]] in ''Death Note'', Mr. Nelson was asked about his opinion on the relationship between Matt and Mello (i.e. whether he viewed them as a couple, or HeterosexualLifePartners, or something else). Because the interview took place many years after he accepted the role, and because he had not known much about either one of the two characters, he simply stated that he did not know enough about them to comment on their relationship, and did not want to offend fans (shippers of this couple and otherwise).
59* Creator/AkiraToriyama is particularly bad at this, to the point where a recurring ''Manga/DragonBall'' character simply disappears and his only explanation was that he forgot about her.
60** He's also said that he's unsure whether Bulma's blue hair is natural or dye. And that he occasionally glosses over the very existence of Super Saiyan 2, usually only distinguishing between 1 and 3.
61** Occurs to a larger extent with various works which, whilst usually being consistent with the manga or anime, are rarely consistent with ''each other'', such as the third Broly movie having circumstances that contradict the previous two simply to tell [[RuleOfCool a cool story]]. Attempting to ask about this subject will elicit this response, and even the Daizenshuu guidebooks use "perhaps", "maybe" and other weasel words instead of putting a definitive ruling on things.
62* ''Manga/FairyTail'': All over the place to cover up consistency errors. Just read the Q&A sections at the back of each volume.
63* Creator/YoshitoshiAbe won't answer many questions about ''Anime/HaibaneRenmei'' because he wants people to draw their own conclusions and make their own interpretations about the series.
64* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': When asked what gender New Zealand was, creator Himaruya had the character reply "Which do you think I am?". The series has made use of gender confusion for running jokes before, so it's very possible he's just setting another one up.
65** Also, Himaruya tends to avoid directly answering questions as to whether or not Germany is really the Holy Roman Empire.
66* The people from Creator/SevenArcs will answer anything you ask about ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''... unless if it's "[[LesYay Are Nanoha and Fate]] [[{{Shipping}} in love with each other?]]", then they go all coy and skirt around the question.
67* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' franchise main man [[Creator/ShojiKawamori Shōji Kawamori]] ''explains nothing''. He gets worse about it with each new series.
68** ''Anime/MacrossPlus''? Wait, which version actually happened? Movie Edition or OVA Edition? [[MathematiciansAnswer Yes]].
69*** In fact, the same thing applies to the original ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and its movie adaptation ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove''
70** ''Anime/Macross7''? What? You thought [[spoiler:the LoveTriangle]] should have been resolved? Well I don't know if it was.
71** ''Anime/MacrossZero''? Just what the hell ''was'' that ending? No one knows.
72** ''Anime/MacrossFrontier''? While he may have been a little more forthcoming about the [[LoveTriangle three principles and their fates]], we now have the result that [[spoiler: Michel and Brera are ''both'' still alive. [[ContinuitySnarl Despite each having died in a separate, mutually exclusive continuity]].]]
73* Creator/MasashiKishimoto, the creator of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
74** Famously, during an interview, when the interviewer told him that [[FanPreferredCouple many fans were hoping that Hinata would get a chance to be with Naruto]], his answer was... [[TrollingCreator "I hope so too"]]. [[spoiler: [[OfficialCouple And she did]], as detailed in the movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'']].
75** He said he wasn't even sure what [[ViewerGenderConfusion gender]] [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/0/0c/7tails.jpg Fu]], the [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/6/6a/Seven-Tails_%26_Fuu.jpg Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle]] jinchūriki, is (was?) in one of the fanbooks. By the time Fu is later seen in the manga proper, he'd decided Fu was [[spoiler:a girl]].
76** Post main series finale, he has claimed that he doesn't know who the mother of Rock Lee's son, Metal Lee, is.
77* Creator/HideakiAnno is brilliant at this. He directed ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', and completely refuses to explain anything regarding the last two episodes. His film, ''The End of Evangelion'', doesn't exactly help matters either.
78** The mantra "I don't know. FanWank something" (formerly pictured above) [[MemeticMutation tends to pop up]] along with a picture of Anno, whenever the fandom discuss the more ambiguous parts of the series.
79* The makers of ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' keep very quiet about what the [[spoiler:two gunshots]] at the end mean, so the fans are still in the dark about the important question whether [[spoiler:the main characters live or not]].
80* Eiichiro Oda, creator of ''Manga/OnePiece'', usually answers ''everything'' [[WordOfGod straight]], except for a few things; as open as he is, even he has dodged the occasional question, such as [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny who would win in a fight between Zoro and Sanji]].
81** He's also not very good about indicating how much time has passed (it gives the story a mythical quality). [[Headscratchers/HomePage But it's been known to bug some people.]]
82** He's also known for [[AssPull making up answers on the spot]], just so he can have an answer. When asked how Zoro can talk even when holding a sword in his mouth, Oda's response was "His heart allows him to speak".
83** What would happen if a human ate Chopper's Human-Human Fruit/Hito Hito no Mi? Oda was asked by a fan and gave a non-answer that ended with him running away (in text form). We've seen human characters use variations of the human fruit, such as the Marineford War showing [[spoiler: Sengoku's Daibutsu model turning him into a golden statue of the Buddha]] or Wano showing [[spoiler: Luffy's fruit, revealed to actually be the Sun God Nika model, turning him into an in-universe deity with with power of ToonPhysics]]. However, it is still unknown what affect, if any, the normal model of the fruit would have on a normal human.
84* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' it's never once explained how one becomes a [[CrypticBackgroundReference Pokémon Master]], with Ash considering himself to be a long way off even after becoming the Alola League Champion and stating that not even being [[TheAce the world's strongest Trainer is enough]]. In response to fan mail inquiring about it, The Pokémon Company's response was "[[WordOfGod It is the intent of the Pokémon creators]] that such questions be left to the imaginations and interpretations of Pokémon fans, adding more excitement and mystery to the Pokémon universe".
85* The [[AllThereInTheManual translated guidebook interviews]] of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' reveal that writer Gen Urobuchi didn't care about giving families to anyone other than Madoka, leaving Homura's family situation very ambiguous. It's completely unknown if she lives by herself or not.
86** He also left the design of the witches to [[DerangedAnimation Gekidan InuCurry]], meaning that he's probably not the person to ask if you wanted to know [[spoiler: what sort of {{Magical Girl}}s they were]].
87** Urobuchi has invoked DeathOfTheAuthor when it comes to TheStinger, saying it's fine for fans to create their own interpretations.
88*** In another interview, he has stated he has no idea where [[spoiler: the wings]] came from, being added by the aforementioned [=InuCurry=]. He then said in that same interview that additions from the animation staff [[SequelHook made it easier for him to write future stories]], suggesting that an answer might've been coming. Which... it [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion sort of]] did.
89* Creator/RumikoTakahashi's famous reply to being asked what would happen if Manga/{{Ranma|OneHalf}} got pregnant in female form and then returned to male form: "I don't think about such things, and neither should you".
90** In fan circles, a "pregnant Ranma" is something that is better left unanswered. Website/TheOtherWiki once had an article on the phrase, but it's no longer up. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, a snapshot of that page is [[http://web.archive.org/web/00000000000000/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnant_Ranma_problem here.]]
91** Doesn't stop a multitude of fanfics about it, of course.[[note]]Where the standard answer is "Ranma gets {{mode lock}}ed in female form until giving birth[[/note]] And even more about her getting a period.
92** Given the usual method by which a woman becomes pregnant, the "dodging MoralGuardians and Shippers" reason comes into play as well.
93* It's easier to pull out the tongue of a live lion than it is to get a straight answer on ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' symbolism from Creator/KunihikoIkuhara. [[http://uranime.nekomusume.net/misc/ikuhara_interview.iphtml "(Mickey's) stopwatch contains the key to open all the mysteries of the world. And Mickey is the only one who knows that. So I don't know what it is either".]]
94** "I wanted to turn a cute girl into a car".
95* Creator/NaokoTakeuchi, creator of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' fame has said this of the inquiry as to who Sailor Cosmos really is: "It's complicated". A [[BrokenBase fan debate]] has risen from the comment that she is "the ultimate form of Sailor Moon" and her connection to Usagi.
96* The creator of the ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' novels, Hajime Kanzaka, is infuriatingly bad at this, and unlike the other examples on this page, it's often unintentional when he flubs his facts in interviews. Just go read one; half of his responses end in "I think".
97* ''Manga/SmileDownTheRunway'': Kotoba Inoya deliberately keeps the resolution of the Ikuto-Chiyuki-Kokoro LoveTriangle ambiguous by showing Ikuto wear a wedding ring while both girls smile at him at the epilogue. In the bonus Q&A after the final chapter, the author said that viewers are free to decide which girl "won" him in the end, and Ikuto's ring is meant to give the readers the satisfaction that their [[OneTruePairing favorite couple]] have tied the knot and gotten their "happily ever after".
98* Creator/InioAsano has said that he always gives noncommittal answers whenever people ask him whether or not the death of Taneda in ''Manga/{{Solanin}}'' was suicide.
99* The mangaka of ''Manga/SoulEater'' has been asked countless times by fans "What is [[AmbiguousGender Crona's gender?]]" His answer was basically "Don't know, don't care".
100* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny''
101** Kotetsu T. Kaburagi's age appears to be something that will always remain a mystery for fans. First it was 37. Then it was somewhere between 32 and 36. Then 39. Finally, Ozaki said his age is something that has been left up to the viewers to determine...
102** As it turns out, whether or not Kotetsu and Barnaby are HeterosexualLifePartners or Totally Not Heterosexual Life Partners is ''also'' up to viewer interpretation. In other words, it's the [[WordOfGay Shrug Of Gay.]] The viewers are also asked to "use their imagination".
103* Tetsuya Chiba [[https://white-ash.net/whistle/did-joe-die has stated on the record]] that he wanted the ending to ''Manga/TomorrowsJoe'' to be ambigious, as he wanted the focus to be on Joe being 'burned out' and not on whether or not he was physiologically alive. His co-creator Creator/AsaoTakamori was much more direct and stated that Joe died at the end.
104* Whether Takatsuki from ''Manga/WanderingSon'' is a transgender boy or simply a cisgender yet not exactly gender-conforming girl is up in the air. Shimura said it's up to the fans' interpretation. (Nitori remains a trans girl, however).
105* [[Creator/YoshiyukiTomino Yoshiyuki]] "(no longer) Kill 'Em All" [[Creator/YoshiyukiTomino Tomino]] is perhaps the ''granddaddy'' of shrugging Gods. On many oft questioned significant story elements, particularly dealing with the endings to his many series, he steadfastly refuses to give answers, as he truly does want the people watching the show to [[WildMassGuessing create their own idea of how the story ended]]. He wasn't likely thinking of FanFiction, but you still won't get straight answers from him as to Amuro and Char's fate in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', or whether Loran Cehack and his [[{{Shipping}} eventual partner]] are in a married kind of love or if it's a caregiver/friend thing.
106** The Amuro and Char issue only really holds true for the anime; in ''Beltorchika's Children'', Tomino's intended version of the story, [[spoiler:they're clearly stated to be dead]]. The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' novels implied that [[spoiler:they AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, as evidenced by Banagher hearing their voices when the Unicorn's psycho frame overloads]]; and the anime adaptation of ''Unicorn'' shows [[spoiler:the spirits of Amuro and Char, along with the spirit of Lalah, depart from the world]] in its final episode.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Audio Play]]
110* In ''AudioPlay/ThirtySixQuestions'', Judith briefly mentions she has an AmbiguousCriminalHistory, with three incidents her parents had to talk their way out of. As one of these incidents involved a woman's death, fans wondered if Judith had accidentally gotten someone killed, or maybe ''intentionally'' killed someone - but when asked, Ellen Winter admitted that she and Chris had no idea what actually happened, referring to it as a mystery for them to solve later.
111[[/folder]]
112
113[[folder:Comic Books]]
114* After he took over the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comic, Ian Flynn took this attitude with the WordOfGay the previous writer gave for Rotor Walrus, neither confirming nor denying it and eventually calling the whole thing "irrelevant"
115* When ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' was completed and a fan asked Creator/JeffSmith what the Crown of Horns actually ''was'', Smith basically said that he couldn't give a definitive answer and that the fan would have to figure it out for himself, implying the reason for his secrecy is either the 4th, 8th, or 19th reason.
116* Dave Sim refuses to state for certain what's happening in the very ending of ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark''. [[spoiler: Is Cerebus going to Hell like he seems to think or is he just letting his personal guilt get him worried over nothing? The answer is left for the reader to decide. Not only that but it's never explicitly stated whether anyone will find that manuscript that Cerebus wrote...]]
117** Yes it was. Cerebus: "Cerebus just has to remember where he hid it or nobody's going to be reading the New Booke of Cerebus". Dave: "Until two thousand years from now when this part of the Sanctuary is torn down to make room for a shopping mall". The consequences may be ambiguous, but it will be found, and it will be read.
118* The writers of the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse seem adamant against revealing anything about the origins of all these kids running around with [[ParentalAbandonment no parents]] (Donald's nephews, Daisy's nieces, Goldie's granddaughter..). Since acting like you're hiding something leads others to believe you have something to hide, fans are left to assume the worst.
119** For the most part, at least - Don Rosa introduced both WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck's mother and sister and Scrooge's parents, and Scrooge has two sisters, a brother and a half-brother making regular appearances. His mother got around.
120*** It should be noted that the said brother and half-brother don't exist in the same continuity as the two sisters. There are different interpretations in the absence of actual canonicity, even by the current writers.
121* ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'' had a special written by Darwyn Cooke, the story's creator, which featured a single-page "story" where he answered the question of which alternate Earth, if any, the series took place on. Specifically, one where ComicBook/RipHunter, DC's most well-known time-traveller, [[NoFourthWall directly addresses the reader]] and tells them that the questions of which Earth the story takes on and its place in continuity don't actually matter: it's all fictional anyway, it's not necessary to enjoy the story, and any answer is probably just going to change in the next couple years after the next CosmicRetcon. (For what it's worth, ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' put it in Earth-21.)
122* Writer Creator/KieronGillen defined and listed the real names of almost all of Earth's immortal [[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternals]] at the start of his run on Marvel's ''ComicBook/Eternals2021'' series, and apparently wrote an extensive bible for the series. In late 2022, when asked on social media which of those names matched Pixie and Vampiro (two minor, but long-running, Eternal characters known only by nicknames), he declined to answer, saying that he was leaving the franchise soon and didn't want his successors to be bound by his answers. Some other questions about dangling plot threads got a similar response.
123* In Giant-Sized ComicBook/XMen, there's a little blurb on the side of one panel explaining that Scott Summers' eye beams are kept in check by ruby quartz glasses. How does ruby quartz keep them back? Well, they'll tell you when they think of something.
124** The ruby quartz thing was established back in the 60s. The doctor that examined Cyclops himself basically said "I don't know why ruby quartz works. It just does".
125* Leaving aside one storyline that everyone seems to be ignoring, ComicBook/TheJoker has never had any backstory that was not told by the Joker himself. In ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', a backstory is told which initially appears to be definitive, but the Joker later says, "Something like that happened to me. I'm not quite sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past, I'd rather it be [[MultipleChoicePast multiple choice]]". His pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} backstory of having previously been a gang leader called the Red Hood has mostly been maintained (DependingOnTheWriter), but the backstory of the man who became the Red Hood has never been independently revealed.
126** In his afterword in the deluxe edition, Brian Bolland says that he'll address the interpretation that Batman[[spoiler: kills The Joker]] at the end. As he's addressing it his aforementioned [[TrollingCreator 800 word count cuts him off mid paragraph]].
127* Devin Grayson, writer of ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' #93 where the title character is implied to have been raped by a female cohort during a HeroicBSOD, evaded the question when asked to confirm what happened beyond it being [[http://www.comicboards.com/devin.php "nonconsensual"]]. This is an irritating example, because the script for the issue does directly say that he was being raped. (This may have something to do with the female cohort in question, Tarantula, being suspected by many of being her AuthorAvatar).
128* Creator/DonRosa can neither confirm nor deny [[DidTheyOrDidntThey "what happened that night"]] in ''The Prisoner of White Agony Creek'' (Chapter 8B of ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck''), asserting it's "for each of us duck fans to imagine in our own minds. I have my own idea, but after all, this is a Disney comic!"
129* Tom Brevoort has been mum about the plot inconsistencies regarding Mockingbird's return from "the dead" in ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''. ''Invasion'' established that Mockingbird had never really died in the first place, despite the fact that there were at least one or two previous stories that showed her in the afterlife. Brevoort's stance was that so few people remembered those stories to begin with, that it really wasn't worth the effort to try and reconcile the {{Plot Hole}}s.
130** Jim [=McCann=]'s ''New Avengers: The Reunion'' and ''Hawkeye & Mockingbird'' partially answered this -- the Skrull posing as Mockingbird honestly had no idea that she wasn't Mockingbird, and went as far as to die for the people she cared about, making it not too much of a stretch that the Skrull kept Mockingbird's appearance in the afterlife.
131* When it comes to ''Franchise/StarWars'', John Jackson Miller, the writer of the ''ComicBook/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' comics, was practically this trope personified throughout the series' run, although it was almost always for the first reason. He refused to confirm various future [[TheUntwist untwists]], one of which was confirmed in a reference book before it got anywhere close to being confirmed in the comic itself. And when asked about "the Rohlan[=/=]Demagol thing", namely the theory that "Rohlan" has been Demagol in disguise since issue 14, he said [[https://boards.theforce.net/threads/knights-of-the-old-republic-32-vindication-part-1-of-4.28441914/page-3#post-28459840 this]]:
132-->"The Rohlan[=/=]Demagol Thing is a fusion jazz act that worked many of the clubs on Mandalore until a dispute over a recording contract broke up the duo. However, their early recordings remain popular and one was recently used as the background music for a series of Holofeed apparel commercials".
133* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' ends leaving it ambiguous if [[spoiler: Prowl destroyed the data slug or not.]] Neither of the writers would say if Prowl did or didn't and admitted that they hadn't thought of an answer, choosing to leave it up to the reader to decide. Either choice completely changes both the ending and how Prowl is perceived as a character. Later, Mike Costa would reveal the answer in the ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' ongoing: [[spoiler: Prowl did ''not'' destroy the slug.]]
134* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe was destroyed in 2015, during the ''Secret Wars'' crossover. Reed Richards was shown restoring the multiverse in ''Marvel Legacy'', and the Ultimate Marvel universe was confirmed to be back in the ending of ComicBook/SpiderMen II. Tom Brevoort was asked about their plans for it at the [=C2E2=], and replied "We’ll be vague and mysterious… there are always plans".
135* Creator/SiSpurrier has been asked what the deal is with "the Fiend" (the evil verson of Professor X within Legion's mindscape) in ''ComicBook/XMenLegacy''. Is he just one of David's alters? Is he a fragment of Xavier's psyche that David absorbed following his father's death? Is he some other entity entirely? Spurrier's view is that he doesn't know, David doesn't know, and it doesn't matter; what ''matters'' is that there's an evil version of Legion's dad in his head, and it ''hates'' him.
136* As for the cause of the zombie plague in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'', Robert Kirkman has said:
137--> "I have ideas [about the cause of the zombie plague]...but it's nothing set in stone because I never plan on writing it. So yes...I do know...kind of".
138* Creator/BrianKVaughan, creator of ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan '', has said that one of the InUniverse theories as to the cause of the {{Gendercide}} is the correct one but refuses to say which one it is.
139* After ''ComicBook/BatmanThreeJokers'' wrapped up, writer Creator/GeoffJohns said it was up to fans and later writers to decide if it was canon or not. ''ComicBook/BatmanChipZdarsky'' does subject it to CanonDiscontinuity with "Joker: Year One", which [[spoiler:ignores the idea presented in ''Three Jokers'' that the Joker is a CollectiveIdentity and instead that the "three Jokers" refers to the Joker having [[SplitPersonality three personalities]], not literally being three different men.]]
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Comic Strips]]
143* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':
144** What is Hobbes' true nature? A magical stuffed animal that comes to life when Calvin is around? A figment of Calvin's imagination? Bill Watterson isn't sure himself.
145*** In the Tenth Anniversary Collection, Watterson would only state that Hobbes is a comment on the subjective nature of reality; Calvin sees him differently from everyone else.
146*** This is reportedly the reason Watterson would not allow a stuffed toy Hobbes to be manufactured (that, and his loathing of merchandising). He felt it would answer the question as to whether or not Hobbes was just a stuffed toy.
147*** Other interviewers have occasionally tried to trap Watterson with a gotcha question highlighting specific instances in the strip in which Hobbes does seem to be a) either completely real or b) either completely imaginary. For example one interview where the interviewer asks how Hobbes could tie Calvin to a chair and then be discovered in that state by his father, who is not ordinarily able to see evidence of Hobbes being "alive". Watterson simply answered ambiguously that he liked the intellectual tension created by "two versions of reality that do not mix".
148** In the ''Tenth Anniversary Collection'', Watterson states that "''Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie'' (like the 'NoodleIncident' I've referred to in several strips) is left to the reader's imagination, where it's sure to be more outrageous".
149** Readers will search in vain for any explanation of the rules to CalvinBall... but that's really no accident. Watterson established clearly that you make up the rules of Calvin Ball as you go.
150* ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' creator Stephan Pastis says that he has never come up with a definite answer for what the crocodiles' accent ("Hullo, zeeba neighba") is supposed to be.
151** He did give an answer to that question. The Crocodiles are speaking "Crocese".
152*** Kind of undermined by the comic itself, where it is pretty much established that, of all the Crocs we meet, it is only Larry, Bob and a few others who speak like that. Larrys wife, son and parents all speak english without any visible accent.
153** Their accent was used as an [[TheUnreveal unreveal]] on one occasion. Commentary in one of the books did have him say he thought it could be [[spoiler: Russian]]. Odd, as you wouldn't find crocodiles there.
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Fan Works]]
157* MJTR, whose author epilogues are usually pretty heavy on WordOfGod, left a few things ambiguous in ''Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat''. He said "no comment" to whether Stephanie Brown's dead body double was buried in her costume and that's why she had no Batcave memorial or if that was just a MotivationalLie. He admitted he didn't know what Cassie, whose English is poor told Steph [[spoiler: about an elaborate plan to masquerade as the Virgin Mary]]. And stated that the elements that the elements that could be applied to God could just be wishful thinking and unlikely coincidences, if the reader chooses to interpret them as such.
158** In his postscript for a much smaller fic, ''See You Later'', (which is told entirely through dialogue), he noted that it's up to the reader to decide if Stephanie's words to Tim were genuine hope or denial in the face of despair. It's also not evident or clarified which one said "I love you" first.
159* Each time someone asks Kurimaster about rather or not Yubel is fused with Jaden in “Dark Fusion” (apart of ''Fanfic/ArcVedProtagonists''), his answer has typically been some variant of “Maybe".
160* One reader of ''Fanfic/ABriefHistoryOfEquestria'' asked the author whether they considered [[TheCaligula Sullamander]] to be a CompleteMonster (actually using the term) and only received a "maybe". Of course, the author admitted that their own opinion might be affected by the insider knowledge that [[spoiler: [[{{Foreshadowing}} someone worse is coming]]]], which makes Sullamander look better.
161** The author also [[AllThereInTheManual mentioned]] that, since she was born the same year the other died, Clover might be the reincarnation of Wind Whistler, making her story with Hurricane a ReincarnationRomance, but left it up to the audience if the idea is canonical or not.
162* ''Fanfic/TheGoodHunter'': The author's reply to a question regarding whether Cyril has any connection with Kos is... vague.
163-->''As for Kos? Well, he did kill her child... Who's to say that he didn't pay a price that night?''
164* Though it is commonly agreed some of the story's moral themes lost a lot of moral resonance if it exists, Eliezer Yudkowsky has stated that whether the Afterlife is real in the world of ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' is entirely up to the readers.
165* Fanfiction author [[http://www.fanfiction.net/~incendiarist Incendiarist]] does this constantly. It probably overlaps with DeathOfTheAuthor a bit, too.
166--> I don't know anything any more than you do. Those two characters I never named? I don't know who they are. Why do you think I never named them?
167* In the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/MGLNCrisis'', [[spoiler:Fate's familiar, Arf]] sacrifices herself, but is brought back later while struggling to remember much of her life before. The author leaves it open as to whether she came back, or was recreated with her memories intact.
168* This is the official position on how FasterThanLightTravel works in ''Fanfic/TheNextFrontier'':
169--> "... to be perfectly honest I haven't given a lot of thought to the exact details. [[IfIWantedXIWouldY If I liked writing pages and pages of exposition about technical minutiae of little to no direct relevance to the plot I'd get a job ghostwriting for]] Creator/CliveCussler".([[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-next-frontier-ksp-something.266217/page-16#post-13941080 source]])
170* The author behind ''Fanfic/{{Renegade}}'' frequently shrugs when someone in a discussion thread asks for details, like how GDI powerplants work or the yields for prototype ion cannons being developed by other species. He alternates between non-sequiters, {{Mathematicians Answer}}s, ambiguous images of a smirking [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} David Xanatos]], or just outright saying something along the lines of "Really, I don't know because that's irrelevant to the story anyway".
171* When asked if TheVerse of {{Creator/Swing123}} and his ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' fanfics had a name, {{Creator/garfieldodie}} responded with "we don't really think of it like that".
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
175* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': When asked by fans about Queen Elsa's sexual orientation, the film's writer and co-director Jennifer Lee said that it was best left unsaid.
176* When discussing writing [[ComicBook/TheIncredibles2009 comics based]] on ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'', Creator/MarkWaid said that Syndrome may have survived the end of the movie but refused to give a definite answer.
177* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'', it's not clear what happened to [[spoiler:Tai Lung]] at the end. Did he die? Was he seriously incapacitated and sent back to prison? [[WildMassGuessing Was he teleported to another part of the world]]? Well, if you listen to the commentary by the directors... they don't know either.
178** That is until [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3 the third film]] shows the Wuxi Finger Hold is indeed a killing move meant to send people to the Spirit Realm. We also get to see [[spoiler:Tai Lung]] as an amulet on Kai's waist, effectively proving his fate.
179** Ditto for the apparent death of [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Boss Wolf]]]] in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''.
180* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'' directly addresses the question of just ''why'' the LivingToys in this universe are, well, alive, given how a project a girl makes in Arts and Crafts out of a spork and paste comes to life because it's now a toy. When the question is finally asked ("How am I alive?"), the answer given is, verbatim, "I don't know".
181* In the DVDCommentary of ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', it's mentioned that the question of why Ming's giant red panda form was so big came up during production and the production staff decided instead of answering the question they would have the movie just lampshade it instead and make it a RiddleForTheAges.
182* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Russell's mention of a Phyllis was written to be ambiguous whether she's just his dad's secretary (meaning he's busy at work) or his father's second wife.
183[[/folder]]
184
185[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
186* "If you understood ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' completely, we failed. We wanted to [[MindScrew raise more questions than we answered]]". -- Creator/ArthurCClarke
187* Creator/JamesCameron has always refused to say what the "arcturian poontang" mentioned by the [[SpaceMarines Colonial Marines]] in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' are. Some tie-in novels have confirmed that they're an alien race.
188* ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'':
189** Bob Gale has admitted that he has absolutely no idea what "lithium mode" is in the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII second movie]], and that he has no idea what illegal activities that Marty Sr. was getting into when Needles goaded him into scanning his card.
190** For the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII third movie]], Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale have declined to say what happened to Clara in the timeline where Buford murdered Doc. Either she lived out the rest of her life completely heartbroken, and the ravine stayed named Shonash Ravine; or she suicidally threw herself into the ravine out of grief, and the timeline course-corrected to the "Clayton Ravine" timeline. Either one is up to the viewer to decide based on their own theories of time travel and/or how they think Clara would react.
191** As far as ExpandedUniverse canonicity goes (which includes the movies' deleted scenes, the [[Ride/BackToTheFutureTheRide ride]], the [[WesternAnimation/BackToTheFuture cartoon]], the [[VideoGame/BackToTheFutureTheGame video game]], and the [[ComicBook/BackToTheFuture comic book]]), Gale has gone on the record saying that they could be considered simultaneously canon and non-canon because of the possibility of multiple timelines, but it's up to the viewer to decide.
192* InUniverse in ''Film/TheBarrettsOfWimpoleStreet''. At their first meeting, Elizabeth Barrett asks fellow poet Creator/RobertBrowning about a particularly obscure passage in one of his poems. Robert puzzles over it for a bit and then admits that he doesn't know what it means either.
193* Creator/TheCoenBrothers refuse to answer any questions regarding ''Film/BartonFink'', and never talk about the film on their own. Bringing it up to them, famously, will usually put them in fits of stifled laughter.
194* In response to questions of whether or not the Human Project really existed and if they were able to create a cure to the mass infertility after the ending of ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'', the staff merely responded that the answer depended wholly on where you lie on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.
195* The Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' tells two entirely different stories as to how he got those scars (and started to tell a third), all of which are probably lies. Creator/ChristopherNolan not only didn't comment on them, he said Joker has ''no backstory at all''. This is in keeping with the comics.
196* '''Anything''' by Creator/DavidLynch. Lynch is so adamant about leaving his work open to interpretation that he won't even explain it to his actors. So, don't bother asking them, either. Although, Naomi Watts did give an insightful comment regarding ''Film/MulhollandDrive'': something to the effect that when a person is dreaming, they create every person, event, and object in that dream. While Lynch may have very specific meanings in mind about certain things he puts into his films, he has also admitted that sometimes images just strike his fancy, and he puts them into his films without trying to assign any meaning to them.
197--->'''Lynch''': Believe it or not, ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}'' is my most spiritual film.\
198'''Interviewer''': Mm hmm? Elaborate on that.\
199'''Lynch''': No. I won't.
200* There have been several contradicting opinions by the actors and other people involved in ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' as to a complete translation of KlaatuBaradaNikto, the phrase used to stop Gort's rampage. Klaatu, obviously, is the protagonist of the movie, and one can assume the other two words are something important in his language. Robert Wise, the film's director, related a story he had with Edmund North, the screenplay writer, saying North told him, "Well, it's just something I kind of cooked up. I thought it sounded good".
201* Produced David Heyman admits that none of the creative team on ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem '' have any idea what happened to the real [[spoiler:Percival Graves]] but have acknowledged that he did exist.
202* Creator/TimAllen's character in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' does this for his in-universe TV show.
203* ''Film/GroundhogDay'': How long was Phil trapped in the GroundhogDayLoop? It depends on who you ask. Creator/BillMurray guesses 10 years (widely thought to be the "correct" answer), while writer/director Creator/HaroldRamis guessed ''10,000'' years.
204* ''Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers'' - the one with all the weird occult stuff - gets even more incomprehensible with its final shot. [[spoiler: After Dr. Loomis disappears back into the sanitarium and our heroes drive off, we hear Loomis' scream and see Michael's mask on the floor next to a syringe. Cut to a jack-o-lantern with the flame inside blowing out. Roll credits.]] Interviews with the writer have revealed that it was the last night of reshoots (after the original ending had tanked with test audiences), they were making things up as they went, and they ran out of time so they [[spoiler: just threw a couple of props on the floor and filmed them hoping the audience would assume it signified something mysterious.]]
205* Invoked by Creator/ClintEastwood. He had always intended that the mysterious stranger in ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'' was the murdered sheriff's brother, but he liked the fan theories about who or what he was so much that he went on to make ''Film/PaleRider'' and deliberately avoid any clues as to the preacher's true identity.
206* Creator/ChristopherNolan hasn't had much to say about various interpretations of ''Film/{{Inception}}'' since its release, but costume designer Jeffrey Kurland and actor Dileep Rao (Yusuf) have both weighed in on their views of the ending. Nolan has since said that he personally sees the ending as being real but he doesn't want his interpretation to change anyone else's. In fact, he's admitted that he's highly amused that people keep constantly asking him questions about the ending even though he has no real desire to answer them.
207* The ''entire plot'' of the French film ''La Moustache'' is uncertain, according to the scriptwriter / director. Basically, the main question is whether the main character's reality keeps changing and he's [[RippleEffectProofMemory the only one who remembers the way things used to be]], or whether [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he's simply insane]], with the second question being which scenes are "real" and which are hallucinations. The writer / director has admitted that he didn't even bother coming up with answers to any of that--he just had an idea and filmed it.
208* ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'' ends with Eli and her new friend Oskar leaving town. What will become of the two afterwards is unknown. It is possible that Oskar will become Eli's new [[TheRenfield caretaker]], but it could also be that she turns him into a vampire so that they can be together for eternity. As a viewer, [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation you should judge for yourself]] whether Eli really loves Oskar, or whether she just uses him.
209** In the remake ''Film/LetMeIn'' there is almost the same situation at the end. Abby leaves town with Owen, but it is unknown whether he will replace her caretaker or whether she will turn him into a vampire out of true love. The viewer should choose for himself what he thinks is more likely or what he personally prefers. In an interview, director Matt Reeves even specifically stated that the ending is ambiguous, and viewers are free to interpret what relationship Owen and Abby will have. In contrast to the previous film, however, there are some scenes in this film with significantly more [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowing]], which implies that Owen's future fate is to be a vampire.
210** The original author Lindqvist never particularly liked the interpretation that Eli/Abby is simply making Oskar/Owen the next caretaker. A few months after the remake was published, he wrote a side sequel short story in which Eli turns Oskar into a vampire. So it is canonical for book Oskar to become a vampire. But film Oskar and Owen are different continuities and different people, so the same doesn't have to apply to them.
211* Creator/PaulThomasAnderson often responds with these when asked about the meaning of different things in ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'', claiming he doesn't remember what he was thinking at the time.
212* Creator/TheWachowskis have refused to discuss any of the more ambiguous moments of ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' trilogy (like what's going on with Neo and the Matrix at the Ωend of the third film) because they prefer for the fans to make their own interpretations.
213* In the ending of ''Film/{{Memento}}'', [[spoiler: Was Teddy lying? or telling the truth?]]. Christopher Nolan has never said either way, and more confusingly, the DVD commentary for the movie actually has three endings, one that says one version is true, another that says another version is true, and a third that does not say either way.
214* Between ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'' and ''Film/TheMuppets2011'' The Henson Company/Muppet Studios refused to comment about whether Kermit and Piggy were actually married at the end of ''Manhattan''. The characters commented about it all the time; they just disagreed. However, ''Film/TheMuppets2011'' strongly implies that the marriage did go through, [[spoiler: but they later split up]].
215* The contents of the suitcase from ''Film/PulpFiction'' are an example. It was originally supposed to be the diamonds from Film/ReservoirDogs, but then [[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino]] changed his mind and said it's basically supposed to be "whatever [[MacGuffin seems most valuable to the viewer and can fit in a suitcase]]". He's regretted putting the yellow glow in the briefcase, because it seems to be a clue to a question that never had an answer. Creator/SamuelLJackson and Tarantino both got sick of getting asked what was in the briefcase and would occasionally answer, "Batteries and light bulbs".
216* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
217** ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'': In his EstablishingCharacterMoment, Khan removes his left hand glove, [[RedRightHand but leaves his right hand glove on through the rest of the film]]. Fans have always asked director Creator/NicholasMeyer why, but Meyer's never given a answer, often saying "Why do ''you'' think he wears it?".
218** ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'': The library computer entry on the Blu-Ray edition of the movie says in regards to Deck 78, "Don't ask us".
219** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': In the DVD commentary, director Creator/JJAbrams really doesn't have an answer as to whether the policeman who pursues young Kirk was meant to be a robot or not.
220* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
221** Creator/GeorgeLucas officially knows nothing about any of Yoda's backstory or history. Even as other authors crafted elaborate backstories for basically every other character in the series (even ones with less than a minute of screentime) through the ExpandedUniverse, Yoda remained a mystery. Indeed, Yoda was the ''one character'' for whom Lucas ''explicitly forbade'' anyone else from creating a backstory or history. Early references in books like ''Heir to the Empire'' to things Yoda had done from before Lucasfilm Licensing was paying much attention to the tie-in fiction? Retconned to be another member of Yoda's species who appeared in a single story from an antholoyg comic. What's his species? They're officially known as [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yoda%27s_species "Yoda's species".]] Where did they come from? Nobody knows. How did Yoda end up as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order? Nobody knows. Why is every known member of his species a Jedi? ''Nobody knows''.
222** In order to avoid having to tie the ''Star Wars'' universe into the real world, no one connected to the franchise has ever given a definitive answer on the human race's planet of origin. We know that humans are the most numerous species in the ''Star Wars'' galaxy, and it's been established that they aren't indigenous to most of the planets on which they're the primary species, but where they originally came from is anyone's guess. Coruscant is the most common fan theory, due to it being the Capital of the Galaxy.
223** It's never been explained how "long ago" the franchise takes place, although it's typically thought to be a long time [[TimeAbyss (millions of years or more).]] There ''were'' a few planned books in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' that shined some light on this subject, one of which said it was ''billions'' of years ago. However, they were all nixed by Lucas.
224*** Incidentally, some elements of the original trilogy's world-building (most notably [[{{Ecumenopolis}} Coruscant]]) were inspired by Isaac Asimov's Literature/FoundationTrilogy, where the question of humanity's planet of origin is a mystery in-universe and eventually becomes a plot point.
225** Since the canon reboot following Disney's purchase in 2012, Creator/MarkHamill refuses to confirm Luke Skywalker's sexuality[[note]]previously he was in a canonical relationship with Mara Jade[[/note]], and encourages gay, bi, or trans fans to interpret him any way they like.
226* Creator/JohnCarpenter and Creator/KurtRussell come to the conclusion that some of the issues in ''Film/TheThing1982'' may be either best left unsolved, or are unsolvable (and that thinking about some of them too hard may drive a person insane, due to there being no knowable solution), during the commentary for the DVD. Carpenter once told a fan that she was supposed to use her imagination and decide an ending for herself. The fan griped, "Oh, I ''hate'' that".
227* Creator/JamesCameron has said it's ambiguous as to whether the final scene in ''Film/Titanic1997'' is meant to be Rose's dream or if she's actually died and gone to Heaven.
228* ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. Are the events in the movie all just part of Quaid's Ego Trip, or is it real? The director has stated that both interpretations of the film fit the facts, and refuses to say which is the truth.
229* In the commentary for ''Film/{{Zardoz}}'', John Boorman, who produced, directed and '''wrote''' this MindScrew of a movie, admits he has no clue what's going on or what he was thinking (or most likely, ingesting) at different points because he was on a lot of drugs.
230* This trope reaches back to the Golden Age of Hollywood: In ''Film/AngelsWithDirtyFaces'', at the end of the film a tough-as-nails gangster played by Creator/JamesCagney is asked by his childhood friend, now a priest, to "turn yellow" as the two are walking down the "last mile" to the electric chair. This is in an effort to get the Dead End Kids, whom the priest is mentoring, to lose their awe and emulation of Cagney's character. Just as the pair reaches the death chamber, Cagney breaks down and starts pleading for his life. To his dying day, Cagney would never reveal if his intent in that scene was to play it as him putting on an act to honor his friend's request or if the character really did genuinely "turn yellow" at the last moment, saying he liked the ambiguity.
231[[/folder]]
232
233[[folder:Literature]]
234* When Creator/JohnScalzi was writing ''The Android's Dream'', he realized he'd managed to go several pages without identifying the gender of the character Sam. Since he'd also happened to use a unisex name, he decided to [[AmbiguousGender keep it up through the whole book]], and now maintains that even he doesn't know whether Sam is a man, a woman, or intersex, and consequently whether their relationship with Archie is gay or straight. He even advises people to read through the book three times, imagining Sam as all three, to decide which works best for them.
235* In ''Literature/TheBigSleep'' by Creator/RaymondChandler, the murder of Owen Taylor is never explained. When the book was being filmed, the director asked Chandler who killed Taylor; Chandler said that he didn't know either, so it was left unexplained in the movie as well. Legend suggests that the lack of a solution was an error on Chandler's part, which he acknowledged in during the above conversation. He just forgot to tie that detail up.
236* Literature/CiaphasCain, '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!''' Cain frequently describes himself as a DirtyCoward who doesn't deserve the reputation he gets, having a massive case of HeroicSelfDeprecation brought on by a desire to survive above all else. Cain says he just frequently gets lucky and [[MistakenForProfound is constantly mistaken for being a military genius]], which [[SureLetsGoWithThat he just goes with]] because it's easier than admitting the truth. However, the in-universe editor of Cain's memoirs, Amberley, has said that Cain doesn't give himself enough credit and that [[CowardlyLion Cain was acting in spite of his fear]], which makes Cain genuinely heroic. He's also one of the few people in the military who [[AFatherToHisMen actually treats his soldiers with some respect]]. Creator/SandyMitchell, the real-life author of the books, admits to not knowing himself whether Cain deserves more credit than he is prepared to give himself or if he really is as big a coward as he claims to be.
237* Acclaimed author Creator/CormacMcCarthy is notorious for this sort of response to his own work, insisting that nothing means anything and that it's all just story for the sake of story. He can be downright curmudgeonly if pressed on this point (once, famously, to Creator/OprahWinfrey, who managed to coax him out of his cave for a rare interview).
238* Creator/IainBanks was once asked at a joint interview with Creator/ChristopherBrookmyre how one of Literature/TheCulture names should be pronounced. Banks replied he didn't know, and Brookmyre said he'd always suspected as much.
239* Creator/DavidWeber's signature "Tum, te, tum, te, tum" non-answer anytime something he plans to address in the future comes up in the forums.
240* One early ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book contains a statement by Terry Pratchett that there is no map of the Disc, because "you can't map a sense of humor". [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discworld_Mapp Then he made one anyway.]]
241** However, the map ''was'' supposedly written by the very CMOT Dibbler itself. That alone should raise questions of accuracy.
242** And he's also said the Disc has [[AlternateHistory alternate pasts]]. God only knows which one the map is showing.
243** In one of his forewords he said that the book contained no map but readers should feel free to draw one if they wanted to. A reader named Stephen Briggs took him at his word, which is how the various Discworld maps ended up being drawn. In the forewords to the maps Pratchett expresses surprise that places he made up for the sake of a joke and then forgot about fit together so neatly.
244** It should also be mentioned that Pratchett did say continents are found and lost on even the best-run worlds, so it's possible that the Disc itself changes enough to make maps of it a futile measure at best. The country of Chimeria is shown on the map, despite the ''Companion'' stating that it's a "brigadoon", and has wandered off somewhere.
245** On a related theme, Terry Pratchett is on record as having warned would-be researchers and [=PhD=] candidates in Literature[[note]]An accusation Terry particularly resented - he argued that he wanted people to read his books ''for pleasure''[[/note]] that as he finishes every book, he wipes the computer files clean so that any first drafts, notes or interim drafts will never be available to base a thesis around. Whether ''all'' the files were wiped before his death, as he seemed to want, is yet to be seen. [[Creator/RhiannaPratchett His daughter]] is set against any continuation of the series as "the books are sacred to Dad", but it's still possible we may see "fragments" of novels and "outline plots" being published "as is", in a similar manner to ''Literature/TheSalmonOfDoubt''.
246** After Pratchett's death, the contents of his hard drive were lost when it was, per his wishes, steamrolled. [[http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/30/547330166/in-fitting-postscript-terry-pratchett-had-his-unfinished-works-steamrolled Really]].
247* In his insanely detailed ''Franchise/{{Doctor Who|ExpandedUniverse}}'' timeline ''Ahistory'', Lance Parkin ties down just about every story written by someone else, figuring out and explaining sometimes subtle and ambiguous continuity references. His own ambiguities go untouched, with the footnote to ''The Infinity Doctors'' acknowledging that placing it where he does doesn't actually work, and the entries referring to a villainous contemporary of the Doctor's father named Marnel, whose son visited him on Earth in the seventies, pointedly not speculating on who said son might be (although he does place the visit in the UNIT era, immediately following a mention of the Master, without further comment).
248* Creator/JohnGreen has had to do a ''lot'' of this to fans who want to know what happened to the characters before/after the contents of ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars''; this becomes somewhat humorous in light of the fact that there’s also a significant in-universe example where Hazel and Augustus [[spoiler:ask Van Houten what happened to the characters of ''An Imperial Affliction'' and he tells them he doesn’t know]].
249* Creator/JonathanFranzen has stated in interviews that he wants readers to come to their own conclusions regarding ''Literature/{{Freedom}}'' and has refused to answer any questions about his intent with regard to the title, his personal definition of the word, etc.
250* Libba Bray does this with the ''Literature/GemmaDoyle'' trilogy. According to her, "[[http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/27836.html It will be YOUR job to assign futures to Gemma and her friends, to imagine what roads they travel, what adventures they might have next, whether they find love and success and contentment, and if they do, to imagine what forms that happiness takes]]". A more specific example is when asked if Gemma and Kartik [[spoiler: [[DidTheyOrDidntThey had sex]] in the realms]], she said that it's up to interpretation.
251* George R.R. Martin is very fond of doing this, either because he hasn't thought out the details of a particular question, or because it's related to future events in the series. The most common shrug is the one that comes after any question about Jon Snow's parentage in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
252** When asked why he killed [[spoiler:Jon Snow]] in ''A Dance With Dragons'', his response was simply, "Oh, you think he's dead, do you?".
253** When asked if the endings of the books will be similar to the (very controversial and disliked) ending of the show, "Different? Well ... yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes".
254* When asked whether Lyra and Will from ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' had [[DidTheyOrDidntThey had sex near the end of the final book]] despite being only twelve or thirteen or however old they are, Creator/PhilipPullman said something like, "I wasn't going to look and neither should anyone else". Pullman also has no answer as to why a few people in Lyra's world have daemons that are their own sex, or when exactly the daemon appears - during birth or after.
255** The first point actually gets cleared up much, much later in ''[[Literature/TheBookOfDust The Secret Commonwealth]]'', when Lyra rather awkwardly tells Farder Coram that she and Will never had sex.
256** He also used this when someone asked if a same-sexed daemon meant the person was gay. He said he'd never thought of that and it was as good an explanation as any. He also said it could mean second sight or something.
257* In Lewis Carroll's ''Literature/TheHuntingOfTheSnark'', all the characters' names start with the letter B. When Carroll was asked why this was the case, he replied, "Why not?".
258* In the prologue of Margaret Craven's ''I Heard An Owl Call My Name'', a doctor explains to a bishop that a newly ordained priest is terminally ill: a few active years left, then a few as an invalid. The priest dies during the novel, in an accident. Craven has said she doesn't know what he had.
259* Creator/GlenCook, in an interview concerning his series ''The Instrumentalities of the Night'', was asked how certain character and place names should be pronounced. For example, the main character is named Else Tage. Is the final "e" in either or both names silent? His response was essentially that the reader had his blessing to pronounce all names any way that seemed to the reader to make sense.
260* Jim Butcher, author of Literature/TheDresdenFiles and Literature/CodexAlera series, does book signings and fan events fairly frequently, and often reserves time for a Q&A section. However, when he is asked a question which he considers to be too spoilerific, he has developed a habit of saying "I'm not gonna tell you," in a singsong voice.
261* Creator/JKRowling used to do this a great deal before all the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books were released, but most of the questions she didn't answer would have spoiled the later books, so she had to be very careful with what she said about them, and in some cases, she worried about seemingly innocuous questions where even refusing to reveal the answer could spoil the surprise, e.g. if someone were to ask [[spoiler:what Dumbledore's wand was made of]] or [[spoiler: why Dumbledore had James Potter's Invisibility Cloak in his possession just before the latter's death]]. Fortunately, no one did.
262** She also refused to reveal the identities of the {{Official Couple}}s for years for fear of fan backlash (because Pottershipping is SeriousBusiness).
263** The Shrug has also been applied to the entire chapter "King's Cross", which, according to Jo, could be interpreted as reality or simply "Reality inside Harry's head" -- but why on Earth should that mean it was not real?
264** She never did say what that spell was that Dumbledore was trying to cast on Voldemort during their duel that made Voldy's eyes narrow suspiciously. And now we may very well never find out.
265** She will also never reveal how far [[spoiler:Dumbledore and Grindewald's relationship went - were they ever an actual couple?]] or what on Earth did Aberforth do [[NoodleIncident with that goat]]. She is waiting for the DevelopmentHell encyclopedia to reveal what exactly Voldemort did to get his rudimentary body before the beginning of ''Goblet'' (this because it horrified her editor when Jo told her).
266* This is the entire point of the story "Literature/TheLadyOrTheTiger" by Frank Stockton -- the author introduces a princess facing MortonsFork and then claims it's not up to him to say what she decided. Stockton was once at a party where, in an attempt to get a straight answer out of him, the host(s) served two kinds of ice cream: one in the shape of a lady, the other in the shape of a tiger. They asked which he would prefer. Stockton said, "I'll have a bit of both". His sequel, "The Discourager of Hesitancy," seems aimed at people who keep asking him what the answer was -- it doesn't resolve anything, but it does hint that overthinking things is the wrong approach.
267* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
268** Tom Bombadil. The only thing Creator/JRRTolkien ever clarified on the issue is that he's not Eru Illuvatar (the equivalent figure to God). To a reader that asked him who or what he really was, Tolkien wrote:
269--->''Even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)''.
270** It is also never revealed whether or not Shelob died of the wounds Sam inflicted on her, or if she was later killed in the eruption of Mount Doom.
271** When asked in a letter whether the monstrous GiantFlyer the Witch-King rides in ''Return of the King'' was a [[TerrorDactyl pterosaur]], he claimed it wasn't intended to be one, but also it undeniably resembles one and it makes a weird amount of sense for it to be one (since it's described as a relic from an older age), simultaneously denying it and also arguing in favor of interpreting it as such.
272* Amoridere states that she doesn't know ''what'' Madgie did ''Literature/MadgieWhatDidYouDo'' and said, "That's up to the reader to decide, as the possibilities are endless".
273* Creator/BrandonSanderson has adopted the phrase "Read and Find Out" (RAFO) from Robert Jordan. The most obvious use is to avoid spoilers for future works, but he has said it's sometimes used when he doesn't know the answer, either because it hasn't been decided/figured out yet, or he can't remember and doesn't want to answer incorrectly. He's also said that just because he answers a question with RAFO, that does not mean the question will be answered, since many of his ardent fans really love theorizing about things. Of course many of these questions have been answered directly, either directly in a later published book or by Sanderson when he feels the answer is no longer spoiling anything significant.
274** When asked whether the [[Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy Lord Ruler]] had used hemalurgy on himself, Brandon Sanderson said he was planning to write more about him in the future and handed out a RAFO card.
275* Creator/NeilGaiman was asked on Twitter if Door's sister from ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' was still alive or if Islington was lying? [[https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/561974253419896832 His answer]]: "Yes, & No. Or, No. & Yes".
276* [[spoiler: Murky]] of [[Literature/OrigamiYoda the Origami Yoda series]] is bullied in-universe because some of the other kids think he's gay. Naturally, the author Tom Angleberger was asked if he really was gay. He said that he couldn't give an honest answer for that, because [[spoiler: Murky]] was only in middle school, and probably wouldn't figure out his sexual orientation until high school.
277* Of the famously ambiguous scene in the Marabar caves in ''Literature/APassageToIndia'', Creator/EMForster said, "In the cave it is ''either'' a man, ''or'' the supernatural, ''or'' an illusion. If I say, it becomes whatever the answer a different book. And even if I know! My writing mind is therefore a blur here, i.e, I will it to remain a blur".
278* In ''Literature/TheScarletLetter'', Hawthorne is usually an omniscient narrator, knowing the deeds, words, and innermost thoughts and feelings of many different characters. But at one point, his omniscience falters, and he says that one woman is rumored to be a witch, without confirming whether she is or isn't.
279* Daniel Handler, author of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Because he uses a pseudonym (Lemony Snicket), he can pass it off as an excuse not to say anything about his work in public appearances, since Lemony's the one with the answers and he's just an "humble representative". Since the series ended with a KudzuPlot, many mysteries unsolved and loose ends, it's particularly jarring.
280* Creator/TSEliot refrained from explaining what Literature/TheWasteLand means, believing that the author's interpretation of his own poem is merely one among many, and that the poem's legitimate meaning is that which it has for the reader.
281* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: You can contact FM on her website and ask her questions about her work and offer opinions, but don't be surprised if you get this response: "To answer your questions>>>>> I write what I do because I can. This is fiction. If you don't like my writing why did you continue to read the series? Oh, that's right, because they were entertaining. I rest my case. Characters are human just like the rest of us mortals. Again, this is fiction. I make it a point to never defend my writing because . . . I write fiction. Fiction is make believe, in other words, it's whatever the author wants to make it. Thank you for taking the time to write and offer your opinions and your insight. FM". Well, you have to respect a writer who gives this as a response!
282* In ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'', prior to giving Arthur an on-page sex life, Creator/DouglasAdams says many people have asked the questions "Did Arthur ever get anywhere with Trillian?" and "What happened after he met that Golofrinchian woman in ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse''?". The answers turn out to be "Mind your own business"[[note]]Although ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'' would strongly imply that he ''didn't'', hence his surprise that they have a daughter.[[/note]] and "The book ended".
283** Adams claimed he didn't understand ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency''. He understood it at the time, but since forgot the intended meaning of certain key parts of the book. See reason #10 above.
284* Creator/RobertFrost was once confronted by a fan who laid out a deep, thorough, and insightful analysis of "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening", after which the fan asked "Is that what you meant to say in the poem?". Frost's response was "It is now".
285* An interviewer asked W. M. Thackeray if [[spoiler:Becky kills Jos]] in ''Literature/VanityFair''. Thackeray cheerfully admitted that he hadn't a clue.
286** Though one of Thackeray's own illustrations, not included in every edition of the novel, these days, shows Becky hiding behind a curtain, holding what appears to be a bottle of poison.
287* Victoria Holmes, [[Creator/ErinHunter one of the authors]] of ''Literature/WarriorCats'', does this a lot. When asked for spoilers, she usually responds, "Do you think I'll tell you that?". And when asked about the plot of ''Yellowfang's Secret'', she replied, "Yellowfang will be in it. She will have a secret. Bad things will happen". Then there's her response when people ask about trivial things, usually the genders or pelt colors of cats who are only mentioned once in an offhand way. Often it's "I don't know, sorry".
288* Robert Jordan, author of the ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]]'' series, was famous for this before his untimely death. Jordan had a term invented specifically for this use--whenever he was asked a question which he thought might be a spoiler, his response would be "RAFO" (Read And Find Out)). Most (in)famous was his long-running treatment of one of the biggest mysteries of the series (or, at least, biggest to the fans): Who killed Asmodean at the end of the fifth book? Every time Robert Jordan was asked, he refused to answer, assuring the readers that they should have figured it out already (although this is not clear at all). In the end, the true culprit was only ''explicitly'' revealed in the ''[[AllThereInTheManual glossary]]'' of ''Towers of Midnight'', the thirteenth book. However, the reveal is implied in dialogue in the book itself.
289** "[[http://edition.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/2000/12/12/jordan/ The reason I won't tell people though is that I am enjoying watching them squirm entirely too much. It's probably bad for me.]]"
290*** Creator/BrandonSanderson, who was tapped to finish the series, has now inherited the expression and uses it when asked about things in his own works.
291** This is also the [[WordOfGod official]] stance of everyone involved with the series towards the ending. While certain details, such as history and geography, may be expanded on later (an Encyclopedia has been promised), several dangling plot threads and mysteries have been confirmed to be left intentionally ambiguous. Chief among these are [[spoiler: the nature of Nakomi, and what exactly happened with Rand's pipe]]. Similarly, Team Jordan has confirmed that they will never elaborate on the fates of any surviving character after the final page. What happens to them, and the world, in the years to follow is [[AndTheAdventureContinues up to the reader.]]
292* When Gregory Maguire is asked about Glinda and Elphaba's relationship in ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' he says that there is 'something going on' between them, but refuses to state what.
293* Creator/StephenKing wrote in the foreword of ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' that he was asked by both a terminal cancer patient and a fan sitting on the death row how ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series was going to end; Unfortunately, he replied that he truly didn't know by that point:
294-->I would have given both of these folks what they wanted - a summary of Roland's further adventures - if I could have done, but alas, I couldn't... To know, I have to write. I once had an outline, but I lost it along the way.
295* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'':
296** When Brian Jacques was asked about the identity of Sam Squirrel's DisappearedDad Mr. Squirrel, he simply said "no particular story is attached to Mr. Squirrel".
297* Literature/JunieBJones always called her kindergarten teacher "Mrs". because she didn't know what her last name was. Barbara Park didn't either.
298[[/folder]]
299
300[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
301* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' showrunner Jason Rothenberg says that, as of the Season 2 finale, Clarke's feelings for Bellamy are not romantic in nature. However, he says that what Bellamy feels for Clarke is an open question.
302* Mostly averted by ''Series/BabylonFive'' creator Creator/JMichaelStraczynski, who was among the first TV show producers to consistently interact with fans and answer any of their questions, with the exception of things that would spoil future plot points; on some occasions, he even flat-out lied to avoid spoilers. This was made possible due to his having planned out in advance not only the entire five year run of the series, but the thousand years before and after that period. However, there are still some plot points he refuses to explain, in case he gets a chance to use them in a spin-off. A case in point is Delenn's toast to the disgraced Lennier in the series finale among toasts to the dead; all we get on the commentary is "That's a very sad story, and maybe I'll tell it someday".
303** Then there's the coin flip that was used to determine if Londo or G'Kar would be the bad guy. [[GreyAndGreyMorality No one will say who won.]]
304** One example that criss-crosses with FlipFlopOfGod: For years, JMS would not give a definite answer to why Sinclair was replaced by Sherdian after Season 1. The few times he did address it, his answer was vague and contradictory. This went on for over a decade. Eventually, with the unfortunate death of Michael O'Hare, JMS finally gave the real reason. O'Hare suffered from schizophrenia, and it got worse while filming Season 1, forcing him to quit. When they met again for the Season 3 episode he guest starred in, JMS said that he would take the secret to his grave. O'Hare responded, "No, take it to my grave," feeling that the fans were owed an answer.
305* A DeletedScene from ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' features Helo confessing to Adama that he was responsible for stopping the humans' chance to wipe out the Cylons with a virus. Adama's knowledge or lack thereof is a pretty significant part of the relationship between the two characters, yet Ronald D. Moore has never given an answer on whether the scene should be considered to have actually "happened". Another scene even seems to imply that [[spoiler: the Cylon "god" is a rogue Lord of Kobol or Lucifer figure in some capacity]], which would have massive implications for some of the more out-there moments in the series, but again, Moore just shrugs.
306** Then again, this has been Moore's general response to just about every extra-canonical theory thrown his way with the lone exception of the "Starbuck's dad is [[TheGhost Daniel/Number Seven]]" theory. That's the only thing he's come out an acknowledged was an outright AssPull because the writers had fraked up the Cylon model numbering system and needed to explain their way out of the logic trap.
307* The stinger at the very end of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]" has its official Shrug Of God. It's apparently a generic SequelHook, no strings attached. Director's commentary is "It was in, it was out, it was in, it was out".
308** Ironically, it turned out to be Creator/RussellTDavies who picked up on TheStinger for "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" (''The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter'' makes it clear there was no long-term plan involved).
309** Davies also gave a Shrug Of God when asked whether Davros had survived the ending of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journeys' End]]". In that case it was Moffat who eventually, [[JokerImmunity and predictably]], answered "yes".
310** When asked whether the Eighth Doctor's revelation that he's half-human on his mother's side is still valid, Creator/StevenMoffat gave a response to the effect of, "Well, he certainly said that, didn't he?". And as Moffat's characters often say, "Rule one: The Doctor lies".
311*** Moffat also openly endorses lying to the fans if it helps to keep the mystery of the story. A good percentage of questions levelled at him will be met with vague answers for a variety of reasons. Just the only reason you ''can't'' give for this is that he's [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants making it up as he goes]].
312*** Moffat also seems to believe in the death of the author. Most question about things that weren’t shown on screen will be met with a variant of “That’s up to you”, or a joke. (“Joke” can mean “elaborate comedy script that can’t possibly be canon”, such as the idea the [[spoiler: Cyber-Brig]] is hanging around UNIT HQ in a false moustache, annoying Kate).
313* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': In "[[Recap/FireflyE01Serenity Serenity]]", when it looks like the Reavers might board the ship, and Inara has a syringe in her hand? All Creator/JossWhedon will say is that it was ''not'' a suicide shot. Creator/TimMinear revealed in a closed-door discussion that [[spoiler:the contents of the syringe would kill anybody that tried to rape her.]]
314** According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTxGOi9coWQ Morena,]] [[spoiler:Inara was in fact dying of some sort of illness. It seems none of the cast knew what it was or why (presumably the series was canceled before they could explore that any more).]]
315* How Finn died in ''{{Series/Glee}}'' when {{The Character Died With Him}}. The closest we get is Kurt saying how he died doesn't matter next to how he lived.
316* The staff writers who maintain the ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' blog "Behind the Eclipse" do this a lot. One shrug that inspired particular fan rage was when they were asked [[spoiler:how Nathan Petrelli ''came back to life'' after being pronounced dead in the Season 3 premiere]], and the answer was, "He just got lucky. People can survive shootings all the time. It happens".
317* Creator/DanSchneider, the creator of shows such as ''Series/ICarly'' follows this trope to a fault, with years worth of examples. Mostly because of Shipping. Ask him anything about shipping, it'll be a miracle if you get a straight answer.
318* ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' was originally designed to be a direct sequel to the previous series ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga''. However, the staff realized there were a few potential issues with this -- they didn't want to alienate new viewers with ContinuityLockout, and didn't want to upset existing fans by suggesting that Godai's battles were ultimately meaningless. In the end they took this approach, leaving it entirely up to the viewers' personal preferences whether the shows were explicitly connected or if the references to ''Kuuga'' were just {{Easter Egg}}s.
319* "The Venus Butterfly" was a sex trick mentioned in the 1986 ''Series/LALaw'' episode of the same name. The show received many letters and phone calls from viewers asking what it was, as well as two requests to license the term. Members of the cast claim that ''to this day'', viewers still ask them about it. The episode's writer, Terry Louise Fisher, stated that she had just made it up. Still, MemeticMutation has led to several therapists (and even ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' magazine) thinking up their own versions of it, the most accepted one offered by writer and sex educator Sue Johanson in 2005.
320* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' creator John Rogers' blog, a fan asked if antagonist Sterling joining Interpol meant that he would have an in-universe TV show about his crimefighting with a British actor playing him ("I'm thinking Eccleston"). The response: [[AscendedFanon "Consider it canonical".]]
321** Rogers also frequently answers questions relating to the characters personal lives with "whatever makes the story more interesting to you".
322* The producer of ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' "encourages" multiple interpretations of the ending.
323** The sequel, ''Series/AshesToAshes'', lampshades this at one point; towards the end of the series, the intro voiceover changes from Alex Drake relating how she was shot and wondering what all of this means, to her stating "My name is Alex Drake. And quite frankly, your guess is as good as mine".
324* Cuse and Lindelof of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' did this a lot in response to fan questions, but it came in distinct flavors. Sometimes they had no answer because the question was about something they didn't consider interesting or important. Some they have mentioned in podcasts include how Kelvin got to the island and what happened to Sun's dog. At other times, they'll read the fan question, but avoid answering it, then comment on how they dodged the question, which usually implied any answer would spoil an upcoming development. Well after the show ended, it also became clear that they sometimes dodged or gave noncommittal answers because their advance planning of the plot was not as detailed as they preferred fans to think it was.
325* Regarding the question of if the ''Series/OddSquad'' franchise would continue after "Odd Together Now" (the show's GrandFinale) airs, writer and Season 3 showrunner Mark De Angelis stated that "it's not the 'end' end of Odd Squad" and that it's always possible that it could continue with another movie or series. The only reason he leaves the answer ambiguous, however, is because he departed from the show two years prior to the statement being made, with the last works he was a part of being ''WebVideo/OddSquadBookOfGames'' and ''WebVideo/OddSquadGadgetTesters''.
326* David Renwick has said he has no idea what Margaret's decision was in the final episode of ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave''. (Creator/AnnetteCrosbie is quite sure she did it.)
327* Two pricing games on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' (Check Game and Credit Card) have been "withdrawn". Although neither game has been played in years, the staff has not officially declared either game retired — but then again, they're also making no claims of either game coming back. So as far as they're concerned, both games may or may not be retired. That is, until Check Game returned in 2013.
328* Early in the run of ''Series/RedDwarf'', it was said that Rimmer's parents belonged to a religion called the Seventh Day Advent Hoppists, but in a 2012 episode Rimmer claimed that his parents were members of the Church of Judas. When questioned on it by fans, series co-creator (and by this point, sole writer) Doug Naylor simply replied that he'd forgotten about the earlier reference to the Rimmer family's religion, and that he didn't consider such continuity matters to be a big deal. For his part, the series' script editor, Andrew Ellard suggested that the Rimmer family probably changed their religion constantly in an attempt to somehow get ahead in life (or just find more people to sleep with, in the case of Rimmer's mother).
329* ''Series/{{Reunion|2005}}'' was planned such that each episode would take place in one year in the lives of six friends, covering the span from their high school graduation to their 20-year reunion. Tying the series together was the mystery of the murder of one of the friends. Unfortunately (at least for the show's few fans), it was cancelled with only nine episodes having been aired. When the show's creators were pressed in interviews for details on how the show would have played out, they admitted that they hadn't decided who the murderer was.
330* P J Hammond has repeatedly said that he has no knowledge of the [[SurrealHorror famously enigmatic]] world-building and characterisation of his series ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'' that wasn't put on screen.
331* The producers of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' has been vague about a number of things, including whether [[EvilTwin Bizarro]] is really [[ComicBookDeath dead]]. As in, ''[[KilledOffForReal dead]]'' dead. They also confirmed that they had no idea what ComicBook/DoctorFate meant when he said Chloe Sullivan walks the same path as he.
332* Creator/DavidChase infamously refused to explain the ending of ''Series/TheSopranos'' for years afterwards, saying, "Anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there". Then, during an interview in 2020, Chase referred to the final scene as [[spoiler:"the death scene"]]. When an interviewer called his attention to that word choice, Chase responded, "Fuck you guys". He was forced to clarify that [[spoiler:Tony ''could'' have been killed]], but not necessarily. It's up to personal audience interpretation.
333* Creator/GeneRoddenberry and the characters themselves in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' rather famously and elaborately shrugged when asked about the specifics of Kirk and Spock's relationship. [[SlashFic Fanwank]] has ensued for the last forty years.
334** ''Weeell'' ... Gene's {{Novelisation}} of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' has Spock use a Vulcan word that ''could'' mean "lover" (and could also mean "[[HeterosexualLifePartners close friend]]") to describe Kirk. But then follows it up with a lengthy footnote by Kirk that essentially says "HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday".
335** In the popular crossover between ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', fans got a massive shrug regarding the discontinuity in Klingon makeup when Mr. Worf, a late series ridge-headed Klingon sits at a bar with early series guys in gold lame and dark makeup (all the Original Series could afford to create an alien species). When asked by his fellow crewmates to explain how Klingons from different time frames could possibly look so different, even floating numerous explanations popular in fanon for decades, Worf merely replies "We do not discuss it with outsiders". The Deep Space Nine writers stated that they had no intention of canonising an answer because all the options sounded trite to them when everyone knew it was just down to budget and costume developments and felt a comedic acknowledgement that left fans to speculate freely would be more fun for the fandom. Years, later the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' writers decided to canonise the plot ideas the Deep Space Nine staff had dismissed.
336* Was [[spoiler:Chuck Shurley]] from ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' merely a [[spoiler:prophet, or was he God in disguise trying to give the humans a helping hand?]] Most of the cast seem to believe the latter. However, the writers have refused to give a definite answer, and since the character is no longer on the show, ''and'' the original creator left, we'll probably never know.
337** Although, WordOfGod later confirmed that [[spoiler: Chuck is indeed God, and it was further confirmed in-universe in episode 11x20, "Don't Call Me Shurley".]]
338* When asked by [[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time Magazine]] how the Heisenberg Compensator [[note]]a miraculous piece of technology that somehow allows the transporter to overcome Heisenberg's uncertainty and therefore track the position, trajectory, and velocity of EVERY MOLECULE in a targeted object[[/note]] worked, Star Trek technical adviser Michael Okuda famously replied, "[[MathematiciansAnswer It works very well, thank you.]]"
339* As for the cause of the zombie plague in ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'', Robert Kirkman has said:
340--> "I have ideas [about the cause of the zombie plague]...but it's nothing set in stone because I never plan on writing it. So yes...I do know...kind of".
341* In the universe of ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', Myth/KingArthur did indeed exist and pull a sword from a stone (using an artifact, of course). Artie explicitly says, however, that Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table were legends. When asked about the HolyGrail, however, he refused to comment.
342* In regards to the true nature of [[HideYourLesbians Xena and Gabrielle's relationship]] on ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' Creator/LucyLawless herself has said publically that she is "undecided".
343[[/folder]]
344
345[[folder:Music]]
346* Music/BlueOysterCult, per their [[http://www.blueoystercult.com/Interact/FAQ/FAQ.html website FAQ,]] have a generic answer to "What does -- lyric mean?": "BOC's lyrics are open to many interpretations, and this is one of the things that has captured the imaginations of fans over the years...The only person that really knows what a lyric means is the lyric writer. So, there is no answer to this question. It means what you make of it".
347* Bobbie Gentry has stated she doesn't know why Billie Joe [=McCallister=] jumped off the Tallahatchie bridge, the central mystery of her hit single "Ode to Billie Joe". Similarly, she doesn't offer an explanation of what it was that Billie Joe and the narrator (who's singing the song) threw off the bridge into the river, which is implied to have something to do with the suicide. Gentry explained that her focus was on the family's rather callous reaction to the news of Billie Joe's death, not why he jumped off, so she didn't bother to devise a deep meaning (though a film adaptation of the song did provide some answers: Billie Joe and the narrator threw an old doll of hers off the bridge, and he killed himself because he had a sexual encounter with a man and [[{{Gayngst}} couldn't handle it]]).
348* Music/PaulSimon's song "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard" contains the line "What your momma saw/it was against the law". Simon has claimed he has no idea what it was the momma saw, other than it was probably something sexual.
349** Simon also couldn't remember if he meant "Sound" or "Sounds" Of Silence.
350* The straightest answer to the question "What does "American Pie" mean?" that anyone has gotten out of Music/DonMcLean is "It means I never have to work again". More seriously, he claims "songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence". and "They’re beyond analysis. They’re poetry".
351* Music/BobDylan, upon being asked what his songs are about, replied "[[MathematiciansAnswer Some are about three minutes, some are about five minutes]]".
352* Music/DragonForce tends to take this approach to questions about their songs' meanings. Depending on which member you ask, the answer will lie somewhere between [[TheWalrusWasPaul "It's more fun if you interpret them for yourself"]] and [[WordSaladLyrics "They don't mean anything"]].
353* Music/TomLehrer has said that the line in "My Home Town" that he "censors" ("That fellow was no fool/Who taught our Sunday school/And neither was our kindly Parson Brown/...['I guess I'd better leave this line out just to be on the safe side' or 'We're recording tonight so I'll have to leave this line out']/In my home town") did not actually exist; he simply could not think of a line that was funnier than saying that he wasn't allowed to say it. Presumably either Parson Brown or the Sunday school teacher (or both) did ''something''...
354* What does WASP's name stand for? In one interview, Blackie Lawless responded "[[FunWithAcronyms We Ain't Sure, Pal.]]" One of their early singles was released with the words "We Are Sick People" scratched into the innermost part of the vinyl. Which is true? We are still pondering...
355* Ric Ocasek of Music/TheCars once said in an interview about his notoriously cryptic lyrics: "I'm not going to destroy your dream...the lyrics mean whatever you want them to mean. And I'll agree with you".
356* The Music/ArcadeFire song "Neighborhood #2 (Power Out)", already kind of [[MindScrew trippy]], ends with the lines "Is it a dream, is it a lie? I think I'll let you decide".
357* "Girl" by Music/{{Beck|Musician}} has a hard to decipher word in between "My" and "Girl" during the chorus. Is it Summer? Sun-eyed? Cyanide? In the lyric book it says "My ... girl".
358* A Japanology lecturer on the university of Vienna was asked to translate some J-Pop song lyrics into German for CD-releases in Germany and Austria. Upon asking the Pop-groups in question for an explanation of the intended meaning of the used Te-Form Verbs in the songs (Te-Form Verbs can take on several meanings based on context), he got several Shrugs of God in a row, usually accompanied by something to the effect of "If you say so, that's probably what it means".
359** Along the same vein, Gackt refuses to explain what ''Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped'' means. His only answer so far has been that English-speakers should understand what it means.
360* The meaning of the Eagles' "Hotel California" has remained ambiguous even after multiple band interviews on the subject. At best, the song is usually just said to be about "the 70s".
361** Something bout the rock star lifestyle, something about cocaine addiction, something about Satanism. Or live-action roleplaying. Or fad diets.
362** [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hotel-california/ According to Snopes]], it's definitely not about Devil worship. It's about [[spoiler: hedonism and greed in California during the 1970s caused by fame. Hotel California is not an actual place, but a metaphor for how the music industry causes fame to be abused.]]
363* "People are always asking me what my lyrics mean. Well I say what any decent poet would say if you dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it's there".- [[Music/{{Queen}} Freddie Mercury]]
364* Music/SoundHorizon is built upon creating elaborate {{Rock Opera}}s with complicated {{Jigsaw Puzzle Plot}}s with ridiculous quantities of multi-lingual wordplay and then watching all the fans try to figure out what in the holy hell it means while refusing to explain any of it. The official statement is that Revo doesn't want to force one interpretation on the audience when WildMassGuessing is half the fun of being in the fandom. The fandom's stance is that [[TeasingCreator their brainpain]] [[TrollingCreator amuses him.]]
365* Despite being the song's writer, [[Music/{{Oasis}} Noel Gallagher]] of Oasis has no idea what "Champagne Supernova" is about. His words:
366-->"I don’t fucking know. But are you telling me, when you’ve got 60,000 people singing it, they don’t know what it means? It means something different to every one of them".
367* In his commentary for the Music/LemonDemon song "Subtle Oddities" Creator/NeilCicierega says, "I think this song is about a haunted house. Someone once said that it was about God. Sure, why not? That makes about as much sense".
368* Music/KenAshcorp [[InvokedTrope Invokes this]] in the description to "Burgz", where he implies that this song about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin literally burgers]] might be a metaphor for relationships, right before closing his statement with "Who knows?".
369* The song "Lurker" by Music/{{Genesis|Band}} ends with a riddle. When asked what the answer was in an interview, Tony Banks, who wrote the song, had this to say "I'm afraid to say really that there is no real solution. You can search for your own one if you like. It was a bit of a joke. When I was writing it I honestly didn't really have a specific idea in mind. If you can find out what the answer is, perhaps you can tell me!"
370* Music/{{Devourment}} released a compilation album titled ''1.3.8.'' back in 2000, and fans have been trying to figure out just what the hell the significance of that number is ever since. Mike Majewski's usual response to the question has generally been something along the lines of "I don't even remember" or "it doesn't mean anything", but more sarcastic answers have been given, namely "one dollar, three tacos, eight hours on the shitter". The most common fan hypothesis is that it's North Texas police code for grave robbery or vandalism, but this has neither been confirmed nor denied by anyone in the band.[[note]]In most states, 138 is code for drunk and disorderly conduct, which ''could'' be a self-deprecatory jab, but police code isn't universal and often does vary from state to state. Take it as you will.[[/note]]
371* Steven Wilson of Music/PorcupineTree does this a lot - he won't even be drawn on the origin of the name "Porcupine Tree!" He also refuses to decipher the backing vocal in The Incident, or clarify the story he wrote for the Deadwing album.
372* Global Communication did this upfront with their album ''76:14''. The album is [[RunningTimeInTheTitle named after its run time]], as are all of the individual tracks. The liner notes state:
373-->Use your imagination: Numbers are chosen to identify separate tracks because 'names' tend to bias the listener by pre-defining images, places and feelings. This gives the listener the freedom of imagination to derive whatever he/she wishes from the music.
374* Jeff Lynne of Music/ElectricLightOrchestra says that he doesn't actually know whether the time travel plot of their concept album ''Time'' really happened or was just a dream.
375* Music/TheyMightBeGiants are known for their decidedly eccentric and often obscure lyric subject matter. Case in point is "She's Actual Size", a song in which the narrator seems to be [[http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/theymightbegiants/shesactualsize.html expressing fear, love, and admiration]] for a woman. However, when questioned, songwriter John Flansburgh once said that the song was about... [[NonSequitur stew]]. When announcing the song in concert, he gave a description which somehow managed to be both more prosaic AND more obscure by stating "This song is about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin scale]], and [[BuxomBeautyStandard sexuality]], and, uh...[[RuleOfThree relationships]]".
376* Asked what he intended by the [[StageName Childish Gambino]] song "Music/ThisIsAmerica," where [[ReferenceOverdosed nearly every frame]] has a new [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory seemingly symbolic commentary]] on racism, violence, pop culture, and other aspects of society, Creator/DonaldGlover said: "I just wanted to make a good song. Like something that people could play on Fourth of Julys".
377* Music/{{Seal}}'s "Kiss From A Rose" has inspired a lot of speculation regarding what the lyrics are actually supposed to be about. Theories range from it being a love song to being about drug addiction or religion. The Genius page for the song has an [[https://genius.com/8225386 annotation]] from Seal himself which doesn't shed any light on what he meant.
378-->"I have avoided explaining these lyrics for over 25 years. I am not going to start doing it now".
379* A notable amount of people have questioned why one of Music/EltonJohn's eyebrows seems to move so oddly whenever he sings. (He and David Furnish even brought it up in the commentary for "Tantrums and Tiaras"). Even he doesn't know why this happens, but he does know that it drives him crazy.
380* Lampshaded in the song "The Marvelous Toy": "It went 'zip' when it moved and 'bop' when it stopped and 'whirr' when it stood still. I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will".
381* Many people take Music/TheBeatles' "Let It Be" to be a religious tune. Music/PaulMcCartney, who wrote it, never intended it to be religious in content (it's about his own mother), but he's okay with it if people want to take it as religious.
382[[/folder]]
383
384[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
385* Whenever Wrestling/DutchMantel was asked about the location of his kayfabe hometown of Oil Trough, Texas, he would ask "Do you know where [noted Texas city or town] is?", and if the answer was "yes," he added "It ain't nowhere near there!"
386[[/folder]]
387
388[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
389* Classic Canadian kids' show ''Series/MrDressup'' never revealed the gender of its child puppet character Casey. When fans would ask host Ernie Coombs about whether Casey was a boy or a girl, he would ask, "What do you think?", and when the person asking responded with their guess, he would say, "You're right!"
390[[/folder]]
391
392[[folder:Radio]]
393* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'' fueled all kinds of theories about ''why'' 42 was the answer to WMG/TheUltimateQuestionOfLifeTheUniverseAndEverything, until Douglas Adams [[http://www.vacic.org/photo/42/index.html stated on alt.fan.douglas-adams]] that [[RuleOfFunny it was just a joke]]:
394-->"The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story".
395The base thirteen theory comes from another joke, wherein a potential question to the Ultimate Answer was "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" This is meant to show that the computer formulating the question is clealy broken or corrupted, as 6 x 9 = 54. Except that someone pointed out that 6 x 9 = 42 ''in base thirteen''. Adams was duly impressed, but made it clear that he did not write jokes in base thirteen.
396[[/folder]]
397
398[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
399* ''TabletopGame/TheDresdenFiles RPG'' is chock full of these, mostly because the game books are canonical ''and'' exist as in-universe documents. For example, it's mentioned that miss Gard ''probably'' has some kind of catch that needs to be fulfilled in order to use healing magic, but both Billy and Harry are left scratching their heads as to what that catch might be.
400* Many fans of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' frequently ask questions such as "What happened to destroy Cyre and create the Mournland?" no matter how many times such things are said to explicitly be points of Canon Uncertainty And Doubt. The answer is deliberately left out, so [[GameMaster DMs]] can provide their own and easily work those events into their own plotline.
401** Additionally, a similar question involving the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' campaign setting is one regarding the true nature of Sigil's ruler/guardian, the Lady of Pain. A straight answer has never been given, other than a novel hinting that she has ties to the Greek pantheon of gods. The most direct answer simply states that she was inspired by the title character of Algernon Swinburne's poem "Dolores".
402*** Incidentally, unlike the ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' scenario, which it's stated explicitly that it is the [[GameMaster DMs]] call to provide an explanation for the various mysteries, ''Planescape'' encouraged [[GameMaster DMs]] to leave such questions regarding the Lady of Pain and various other multiversal engimas deliberately unanswered, to maintain the setting's particular ethos.
403** Similarly, the nature and identity of ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'''s Dark Powers are usually kept mysterious.
404*** While some fans reject the 3rd edition ''Ravenloft'' products, they did provide a satisfactory answer: the Dark Powers have no canonical true nature, and [=DMs=] should do whatever they want with no worries.
405** Early products and novels for ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' deliberately refrained from offering more than cursory information on the nation of Sembia, specifically stating that this was so individual [=DMs=] could do whatever the heck they wanted with the place.
406** The final issue of ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' had a whole feature on Unsolved Mysteries, which provided "answers" to various questions that had built up over the years. While some of them were actually answered, most of the narrative questions were simply said to be Officially Unknown, including several already mentioned above, as well as the identity of the Serpent in Vecna's backstory, and what the Draconic Prophecy in ''Eberron'' actually ''says''. The question "What does the 'Abeir' in [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Abeir-Toril]] mean?" got the answer "We can't tell you that ''yet''," teasing the return of Toril's extradimensional sister planet during the Spellplague that transitioned the Realms from third to fourth edition.
407* Perhaps as a reaction to the increasingly unwieldy {{Metaplot}} of its [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness predecessor]], the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness ''loves'' this, repeatedly emphasizing the [[{{Gamemaster}} Storyteller's]] opinion as the ultimate arbiter of what is canonical and not.
408** One noted example in the ''New Orleans: City of the Damned'' supplement is that Donovan, the Prince's Sheriff, is concealing his identity and that it would be disastrous if his true identity were made known. About the only information the book gives about his past is that he was Embraced in 1865.
409* Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games (the creators of ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'') has been known to answer obscure questions about his games with "Fnord". (A reference to the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, which has often gotten {{Shout Out}}s in SJG products).
410** Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter (religion) in the ''TabletopGame/InNomine'' roleplaying game from Steve Jackson Games, many topics are what the Line Editor officially refers to as matters of "Canon Doubt and Uncertainty". Each individual DM is supposed to come up with their own answers to such questions as 'Was Jesus Christ really the Son of God?', and the official game material has never and will never address the issue directly.
411* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
412** So, what's up with the two missing Primarchs? WordOfGod is, of course, "No comment".
413** Also, who the hell is Cypher and what is he up to?
414** This is essentially Games Workshop's company policy about canonicity.
415[[/folder]]
416
417[[folder:Theater]]
418* John Patrick Shanley won't reveal whether, in his play ''Theatre/{{Doubt}}'', [[spoiler:the priest molested the children or not]]. The point of the play is the investigation. He has, however, noted that he has decided on an answer and told the actors playing Father Flynn, although nobody else.
419* Creator/HenrikIbsen's play ''Ghosts'' ends with one main character [[spoiler:deciding whether or not to kill her son.]] Ibsen refused to state what she chose, saying it was too important of a question.
420* A lot of people have asked Music/StephenSondheim what the giant's wife from the second act of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' represents in real life (global warming, AIDS, etc).. Sondheim's response: "To James [Lapine] and me, it is a giant. Enough said".
421* Samuel Beckett, when asked what, exactly, ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot'' even meant responded "What do you think?". And then, on being given the interviewer's analysis, "Hmmm, interesting". And that is all. Beckett did, however, deny a persistent piece of {{Fanon}} that persists in studies of the play. "If I meant Godot to be God, I would have simply called him God". Though, to complicate matters, at another point he did claim that his subconscious does things without him at times. All in all, "If I knew who Godot was, I would have said so in the play".
422** To be fair all of Beckett's plays are all examples of this Trope he famously refused to explain anything of any of his plays to the point, he befriended those that never questioned him.
423* Creator/WSGilbert, when asked about whether or not Jack Point is dead (the libretto says that he "falls insensible") at the end of ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', said: "The fate of Jack Point is in the hands of the audience, who may please themselves whether he lives or dies". (However, he [[FlipFlopOfGod was also reported as having said]] "Jack Point should die" when asked if it was all right to treat Point as dead).
424[[/folder]]
425
426[[folder:Toys]]
427* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
428** Greg Farshtey, writer of most of the media, occasionally does this in a very DeadpanSnarker-ish fashion.
429--->'''Fan''': This is a bit of a nitpick, but in ''Federation of Fear'', Tren Krom is described as having yellow eyes. But in The Mutran Chronicles, and on his BS01 entry, he is said to have little more than holes laid into his skull for eyes. Which one is the accurate description?\
430'''Greg''': You're right. It is a nitpick.
431** He also refuses to discuss how new Matoran are made, basically telling fans to think it up themselves. He does this to keep a feeling of mystique to the setting and avoid the {{Squick}} that would probably come with an explanation about it. Though it may also have something with the NoHuggingNoKissing rule Bionicle seems to operate on. The closest thing to a direct answer we have is from [[AllThereInTheManual the Bionicle Encyclopedia]], which features a one-line reference to the idea that new Matoran cannot come into existence outside of Metru Nui.
432* During Q&As on the Palisades message board, Ken Lilly's standard response to questions about potential upcoming figures and accessories was "anything is possible". After the company folded, he admitted that the answer was usually "no" due to reasons of cost or complexity, but saying so straight-out would have been discouraging to future questions.
433[[/folder]]
434
435[[folder:Video Games]]
436* ''VideoGame/BattleTech2018'': The dev team left a lot of questions unanswered, certainty lost in the fog of war.
437** Was the player character ever loyal to house Arano, or were they just clinging to their MealTicket?
438** Were the Espinosas {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope into ruthless dictatorship or were the atrocities part of the plan from the start?
439** Was Tamati Arano TheGoodKing, who lowered military spending to avoid provoking his neighbors, and spent the money wisely on social programs? Or was he a weak and irresponsible ruler who spent money that should have been spent on defense on BreadAndCircuses to appease the mob?
440** Was ''Newgrange'' running guns, as Lord Karosas claimed, or was it a refugee transport? The fact that the captain was a Taurian officer suggests the former, but nothing is ever stated outright.
441* [[http://www.bgemyth.net/?page=plus_d_infos/creation_du_jeu/interview_jacques_exertier/interview_jacques_exertier.php An interview]] with one of the primary writers of ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' gave fans an opportunity to ask their many tickling questions about the game. One, with regard to character names, was "What does 'Double H' stand for?". Answer? They don't know. It ''probably'' comes from his initials... maybe.
442* Creator/{{Bungie}} Studios, the creators of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'', deliberately dodge many questions by the fandom, because they prefer to let the fans answer the questions and come up with the theories themselves.
443** "How do Grunts reproduce?". "''[[{{Squick}} Frantically]]''".
444* What happened 10 years ago, during the War? Why did the scientists come to the island? And what the hell is Balrog? These are just a few of the questions that all ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' fans wish to have answers to. Yet all Pixel-san says is "I leave it to the player's imagination".
445** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8XINfralSE an interview]] about [[UpdatedRerelease the WiiWare version]] though, he answered one of the questions: [[spoiler: Balrog's design was based on a ''bar of soap'']]. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20121127114746/http://hpcgi2.nifty.com/rochet/bbs/bbs0003.cgi Also, on his old bulletin board,]] he said in a series of curt replies to fan questions that King has red eyes because he ate cooked red flowers to gain their power without going rabid.
446* In regards to whether or not [[VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories Adell]]'s [[spoiler:ears are pointed like other demons]], the creators of ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' responded only that "there's nothing special about them". Nobody's quite sure if they meant that they're normal [[spoiler:human ears]] or normal [[spoiler:demon ears]].
447* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': What's under Malady's mask? What do her demonic features look like?[[note]]Malady is half-elf/half-demon[[/note]] "If we know, we're not telling".
448* The character Cranky Kong in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series. While no one questions that he's supposed to be the original Donkey Kong from [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong the classic arcade game]], Nintendo has gone back and forth on whether he's Donkey Kong's father or grandfather (meaning the current Donkey Kong is either Donkey Kong Junior or Donkey Kong III). While some sources say grandfather, such as ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', other sources such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' depict him as his father. And that's without getting into the one instance where Creator/RetroStudios has implied that the Cranky Kong in their DKC games is actually the Donkey Kong from Creator/{{Rare}}'s games.
449* ATMOS, developers of ''[[VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Escape Velocity: Nova]]'', would often respond to questions regarding some of the more mysterious elements of the game universe with a simple "*Cryptic grin*".
450* The ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'' developers are infamous for doing this. So much so, that ''not'' giving a straight answer one way or another has frustrated many a customer into cancelling their accounts because of the sheer unpredictability of where the game was heading in terms of both story and gameplay mechanics.
451* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'''s [[AmericanRobot Liberty]] [[HumongousMecha Prime]] bears many resemblances in name, appearance, and mannerisms to [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]], if the latter were infused with high-concentration EagleLand. The developers said no reference was intended, but left the door open that such a reference could have been made subconsciously.
452* The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' dev team is ''frustratingly notorious'' for this. Every interview they have will always have at least one question with an ambiguous answer that's as vague as possible. '''Always'''. It's not so bad to want your MMO to have some mysteries, but trying to have your game as GuideDangIt as possible with things that hundreds of thousands of players haven't figured out for 4+ years is something else entirely.
453** The "you wish it was only NintendoHard" boss Absolute Virtue is featured in a developer-made video showing unimaginably vague "hints" for beating it. Every single frame of the video has been scrutinized and subjected to dizzying heights of WildMassGuessing. To this day, nobody knows what the developers were trying to convey.
454*** It has been figured out that the developers were trying to show that matching AV's two hours with your own locks them. He remains unbeatable because the video didn't show/was unclear on how to stop him from spamming meteor and killing everyone once his health drops below a certain point.
455** When asked what the pop condition was for Almighty Apkallu (a monster who has only ever been seen a handful of times) they initially shrugged saying that they didn't remember that monster. Later they responded with the vague hints of "First of all, luck plays a big role in whether he appears or not" and "He doesn't like being left alone, and will wander off if no one is around to keep him company".
456* This was the longest-standing answer towards Poison's AmbiguousGender in ''VideoGame/FinalFight''; she and her palette-swap Roxy started out as cis women, but the developers were concerned whether players would be comfortable [[WouldntHitAGirl hitting women]], so they were made into trans women, being referred to as ''newhalf'' (a derogatory Japanese term). Roxy eventually reverted to being cis, but later Japanese appearances were consistent on Poison being a ''newhalf'' for a while; the American team, meanwhile, was unclear on whether she was a cis woman, a trans woman, or a crossdressing man. Capcom eventually consolidated things on both sides of the Pacific by stating that Poison ''is'' trans, with the only regional difference being whether she's pre-op or post-op.
457* In a interview hosted by Dawko about ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', Scott did this ''a lot''. In the interview, he stated that he feels that the fans should find out how the story plays out themselves. Regardless, he acknowledged the constant effort and near match that Mat-Pat (WebVideo/GameTheory) made and revealed some plot points and interesting facts.
458* The ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'' series was never completed, and Volition have said perhaps two things about the story and where it was going to go, which actually raised more questions than they answered. Cue the EpilepticTrees.
459** In a much-anticipated 2011 interview with the fanbase (more than 10 years after the last game was released), lead writer Jason Scott did reveal a few details about what was planned for the future games. However, he did so in such a vague manner that he simply fueled further speculation.
460* At the end of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', SilentProtagonist Claude has just rescued his annoying and motormouthed girlfriend Maria. The screen fades to the credits-on-black but Maria keeps on talking, and [[spoiler:a single gunshot is heard, and she quits talking]]. Rockstar's official response to fan questions about what actually happened is [[spoiler:"certainly gun shots were fired but nobody is sure as to exactly what happened".]] During a Q&A they went into more detail - by saying that some of the developers thought Claude killed her and some thought he didn't. They also managed to shrug about Claude's backstory ("he's a drifter"), and his current status ("he's not dead but we don't know what became of him").
461* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'''s writer, Marc Laidlaw, remains very careful not to make any crucial statements about some of the fuzzier parts of the series' continuity. He does not only hold this attitude towards the Gearbox expansions, but also towards Valve's games as well.
462-->[[http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114535 The whole issue of canon is something the fans came up with. I guess you will be able to identify as canon those story elements we continue to build on and develop and mention repeatedly as the story progresses. Others might fall by the wayside once they've served their purpose. Couldn't you say the same of us all?]] [sic]
463* ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'':
464** There were several hints in the game that Varik was supposed to be [[spoiler: (a future?) Ness. The game calls you "Giygas slayer" at times, and people mistake you for Ness a lot. Toby Fox said that it just started with him "wanting to look lazy" by not editing Ness's death sprite, but then decided to keep going, since Ness and Varik are both blank, mute heroes.]] He said it's up to you to decide if they really are the same person.
465** There was also hints that [[spoiler: Varik's intrusion upon Dr. Andonuts' Magicant was corrupting it, since there were places and people only Varik/Ness would remember. Toby also said this just sort of happened.]]
466* Whether the VideoGame/IceClimber duo is a pair of HalfIdenticalTwins, [[PuppyLove lovers]], or unrelated friends is up to the player. This leads in an odd situation thanks to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' returning the characters to prominence, with half the fanbase seeing them as unrelated and shipping them while the other part is utterly {{squick}}ed by [[IncestYayShipping pairing siblings]] together.
467* Every single time Testuya Nomura is asked about when ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' will be announced, it usually results in this. Like in this interview concerning ''Birth By Sleep'':
468-->'''Interviewer''': Do you think people will want to replay the first title after clearing this one?
469-->'''Nomura''': Hmmm, I think there are a lot of puzzling elements, so maybe they'll want to play the next game... and there'll be a secret movie too.
470-->'''Interviewer''': The next game!? Do you mean "III"!?
471-->'''Nomura''': The next game will be the next game (laughs)
472** And on the subject of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', according to the Ultimania, [[spoiler:Roxas "may or may not" have had Ventus's heart.]]
473* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
474** When asked how Kirby got his name, Masahiro Sakurai says he doesn't remember. Shigeru Miyamoto says it was inspired by the lawyer who defended VideoGame/DonkeyKong from [[Film/KingKong Universal's copyright infringement lawsuit]], but also that Kirby was just [[InherentlyFunnyWords a funny name]] for the little guy.
475** Are [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Ado]] and [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Adeleine]] the same person? Even the Japanese-only official 20th-anniversary book says that it's unknown, but if they are, Ado could just be Adeleine's nickname. It did clear up the similarly long-standing issue of Ado's AmbiguousGender -- she's a girl, just like in spin-off material.
476** The same 20th anniversary book mentions that, despite being heavily implied, it's unknown whether 0[[superscript:2]] is related to Dark Matter or a reincarnation of Zero, and that it's possible [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad Dark Nebula]] might be related to Dark Matter, but nobody knows for sure.
477* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': In 2009, in response to fans' asking about the species of the titular character (who resembles a number of various real animals all at once), artist Yoshihiko Arai [[https://www.ignboards.com/threads/character-design.178979586/#post-178979586 stated]] that it was ultimately up to each player to decide for themselves.
478--> "In the end, Klonoa is supposed to be the player. If the player thinks he is a dog then he is a dog. If the player thinks of him as a cat then he is a cat".
479* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', it's strongly hinted at that [[spoiler:Kreia is Arren Kae, The Handmaiden's mother]]. If this is news to anyone, check out Scorchy's post [[http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/Update%2058/ here]]. Still, the writer Chris Avellone's response to a question on this was "Can't comment, but good catch. Sorry".
480** Anyone that's read [=MCAs=] ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' Bibles would recognize "good catch" as his standard response to a coincidence or minor detail pointed out by a fan that he actually likes the implications of.
481* For several years, fans have always asked Valve how the entire ZombieApocalypse started for the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' series, but an answer has yet to be produced since Valve wants fans to come up with their own theories instead of always being spoon fed information. A supplementary comic that was released some time after the game launched showed that the virus began as some form of super rabies that quickly spread throughout the country, but ''how'' it came to be has yet to be answered.
482** Fans are also demanding to know what happens to the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' survivors after they are saved by the military at the end of The Parish campaign since the military was killing carriers of the virus and it was confirmed that the survivors are also carriers. Valve has yet to say anything on the subject.
483* A year after the release of the game, Nintendo finally answered on where in the ''Zelda'' timeline that ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' takes place. The answer? It's the last game. Sounds straightfoward enough... except the series' has a three-way split timeline. The Japanese Zelda website even places the game in all three timelines as the last entry in the history section. The dev team also stated that it's up to the players to decide where ''Breath of the Wild'' fits in the timeline, be it at the end of the Child, Adult, or Downfall branch or if it literally is at the end of the timeline by way of a MergedReality situation.
484* What is The Secret of VideoGame/MonkeyIsland©? answer: [[spoiler:"Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!"]]
485** "Only [=LeChuck=] knows. And he's an evil insane nightmarish murderous revenge-obsessed undead horror, so good luck getting an honest answer out of ''him''".
486** This one was given a canonical answer in ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'', which established that the island contains [[spoiler:a giant robot monkey,]] but this sequel was created by a different production team to the one that set the question. Original creator Ron Gilbert has his own answer, but remains disinclined to tell anyone.
487** Probably the intended original answer was that Monkey Island contains a portal to the underworld (under a giant monkey head), which Guybrush discovers near the end, and is pretty staggering as secrets go. It just wasn't positively identified as such in-game.
488* Mortis Ghost, ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'''s creator, prefers to let everyone come up with their own explanations to whatever just happened in the game rather than say so himself. Considering [[MindScrew what sort of game we're talking about]], that's a lot of speculation to be done. He has given some canonical facts though, such as the fact that Sugar, Enoch, and Zacharie are the only humans in the game, and agreeing with a fan during a livestream that the Batter is a lesbian.
489* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'':
490** When contacted about where Furbert Snufflepeeps (a disappeared scientist) went, the creators basically said they didn't know.
491** When players asked Roary Scrawl, a character, the question of how Gingersnap the cat got his scar, he replied in his answer in the official magazine that nobody knows but he personally thinks he got it in a scuffle over melted cheese.
492* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Although the main series games are all chronologically connected, Game Freak has been tight-lipped about ''how'' they are connected. When asked in [[https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2019/10/24/game-freak-talks-sword-and-shields-champion-wild-area-interactions-and-more a 2019 interview]], Junichi Masuda responded that they'd rather not explicitly confirm a timeline to avoid overcomplicating things and/or accidentally creating continuity errors.
493* The first ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'' game's ending is the best example. After saving the day it reveals that [[spoiler:the merchant Ivan]] is actually a relative of the king who was searching for his long lost brother [[spoiler:which would be you.]] In an interview it's actually ''stated'' that both characters are related to the king, but it never says if they're related to one another. It still just strongly hints to it.
494** Other examples from the same interview is that Iris is not a vampire and probably not a purebred of whatever her species then is, no one knows where the Saint-Coquilles money comes from, and Sharron is "probably not human". (Which is no more information than what's heavily implied in the game itself)
495* After Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto {{Jossed}} the popular belief that the 7 Koopalings were Bowser's children, people started to ask who Bowser Jr.'s mother was. Creator/{{Nintendo}} simply replied "We don't know who the mother is". During the 30th anniversary celebration video, to answer who Bowser Jr.'s mother is, Shigeru Miyamoto pointed at... [[MathematiciansAnswer himself]].
496* "Team Silent, Team Silent, which one of the endings to ''Franchise/SilentHill'' is canonical?" "They're all canonical". "[[Manga/NyoronChuruyaSan Nyoro~n]]".
497** WordOfGod regarding ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'''s canonical ending is "None of them are". The creator intended for players to choose whichever ending carried the greatest emotional impact and to consider it as canonical for themselves.
498* According to [=KobaBeach=], Luigi farts each time he double jumps with the Athletic Peach powerup in ''VideoGame/{{Something}} Else''. yogui responded that it's up to the player to decide whether it is or not.
499* Being based on real life dogs and cats, it's pretty easy to pinpoint which breeds the characters of ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' is based on... everyone except Panta, who suffers from a double dose of VagueAge and InformedSpecies. Creator/CyberConnect2 don't even know what Panta is either, as all artbooks featuring his character data usually puts a "?" in place of his age or species, and when directly asked, they'll simply respond with [[ShapedLikeItself "Panta is Panta"]].
500* This is how the creators of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' react the big question presented by the game's ending. [[spoiler:Who is it that appears in front of Tear? Is it Luke? Is it Asch? Is it some weird combination of both caused by Lorelei?]]. The game's director answered with "Who do you think it is? That's the answer". [[MisaimedFandom Cue endless debates on the subject]].
501* Creator/ValveSoftware's [[TrollingCreator refusal]] to reveal the gender of the Pyro in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has become a RunningGag in both the fandom and [[AscendedMeme the game itself]].
502-->'''Scout''': He's not here, is she?
503* Much like in the ''Cave Story'' example, the setting of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is basically ''made'' of this trope. The creator has repeatedly mentioned he wants people to fill in the blanks themselves. Heck, even the [[AllThereInTheManual manuals]] are, in universe, written by {{Unreliable Narrator}}s who write based on hearsay, so not even the official books have much honest, set in stone WordOfGod. Of course, this only [[WildMassGuessing spurs]] [[EpilepticTrees the fans]] [[FanWank further]].
504* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is filled to the brim with many things that are open to interpretation. [[AmbiguousGender What is the gender of the protagonist?]] What happened to the other humans that fell down the mountain? When does the story take place? Creator/TobyFox, the creator of the game, purposely left a lot of things vague so that fans can come up with their own theories and whatever they think of will be "true".
505* In ''VideoGame/InvisibleInc'' is Shopcat an [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted cat]] pretending to be a human or a human pretending to be an uplifted cat? Even the devlopers aren't sure.
506* ''VideoGame/OtterIsland'': Creator Mizzen is pretty vague when answering questions about the game's story, such as where exactly it takes place and the nature of [[spoiler:the creature on the island that usually only comes out in autumn]], intentionally leaving things ambiguous so players can form their own theories.
507[[/folder]]
508
509[[folder:Visual Novels]]
510* The writer of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', Creator/Ryukishi07, has made it clear that he will never reveal what really happened on the real Rokkenjima. Though he has said that he knows what really happened (fitting with reason 5 above), it also fits with one of the themes of the series, namely about truth (and the subjectivity of it) which says that the readers has to figure it out themselves and create their own truth. He's mentioned that some people on the internet have actually managed to figure out what happened.
511** The truth did get explained in 2014 with the release of the 8th arc of the manga, which [=Ryukishi07=] was involved with.
512[[/folder]]
513
514[[folder:Webcomics]]
515* Chris Hastings, author of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' has explained that he doesn't know how The Robster (a tricky lobster man) puts his suit on over his claws.
516* Interestingly, Dave of ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' rarely answers questions about his own comic, more likely, someone on the [=BnG=] forum gets there first, leading to a huge discussion on the meaning of life, which Dave leaves alone (in most cases).
517** Any questions about plotholes are actually taboo in the [=BnG=] community.
518*** That's because there are no plotholes. Even the ones you think you see, even the ones you ''know'' you see, are not plotholes.
519* ''Webcomic/CityOfReality'''s author has [[http://www.cityofreality.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37#p200 deliberately]] left the ages of his {{Kid Hero}}es ambiguous, to avoid writing himself into any {{Plot Hole}}s or {{Relationship Writing Fumble}}s.
520* Maritza Campos of ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'' is famous for answering fan questions with a smile and a "Maaaybe".
521* ''Webcomic/TheDreadful'' Christmas Special, in which Kit kills the grinch with an overdose of cheer, is confirmed as canonical on the author's twitter. He does not know when or where it happens however.
522* So far, the author of ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' has refused to answer any questions about the identity of the father of Mel'arnach and Kel'noz Val'Sarghress. This has led to lots of speculation among fans about who he might be, since the last time a question of parentage was met with a Shrug Of God the eventually revealed answer surprised everyone.
523** He's also stated that he doesn't think it matters if Shimi'lande and Vala'drielle are still sisters, as was stated in early character material.
524* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', Alex, the bad-tempered male-presenting computer science teacher, was replaced with little explanation by Alex, the friendly female-presenting computer science teacher. When Willis was asked if they were actually the same Alex, he [[https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/155637225372/im-just-going-to-go-ahead-and-assume-that-the-new said on Tumblr]] that New Alex was definitely transgender, but whether she was the same person as Old Alex was another question, and while he wouldn't say anyone was wrong to think that, he personally thought of them as seperate for real world reasons.
525* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
526** Odd visual effects are often used as an artistic convention, such as the angry black eyes of death in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1187 this comic.]] However, as some of the characters have magic powers, sometimes similar effects are clearly actually happening in-universe. For example, Tedd is actually glowing in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=874 this comic,]] as another character comments on it. However, in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2325 this comic,]] the author claims in the commentary that he isn't entirely sure whether the spectral flames surrounding Elliot are merely an artistic convention, or something that is actually happening.
527** As Grace has [[CharacterDevelopment developed]] from an InnocentFanserviceGirl to ... an InnocentFanserviceGirl who isn't quite as naive and has an impish sense of humor, Dan says that sometimes ''he'' doesn't know if something she says is an InnocentInnuendo, or she knows ''exactly'' what she's saying.
528* ''Webcomic/FriendshipIsMagic'':
529** [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer.]] One fan asked if she'd ever appear in the comic and an answer wasn't truly given. She appears later.
530** Also about [[spoiler: Sunset]]. When asked if she'll be joining the Mane 6, the response was a 'maybe'.
531* ''Webcomic/GamingGuardians'' creator Graveyard Greg often replied to such questions with his signature sinister laugh: Heh heh heh.
532* Tom Siddell of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' is usually very helpful about providing answers, no matter how pointless or obscure. But when future plot points or very specific questions about numbers or lengths of time come up, Mr. Siddell proves a master of answering questions [[MathematiciansAnswer without actually answering the questions]].
533-->'''Fan''': When exactly are our heroines' birthdays?\
534'''Tom''': [[http://gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=40&page=8#1178001262 At some point during the year.]]
535* Creator/AndrewHussie is usually ready to answer questions about specific events within ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', but there are several subjects which he simply doesn't care enough about to resolve. The details of the dead members of [[GangOfHats The Felt]] is the most persistently shrugged line of questioning. (He eventually answered it once they appeared in the story).
536** Some things previously shrugged:
537*** Troll anatomy (usually questions about this are answered with jokes, or pointing out that the asker is asking about the genitalia of 13 year olds).
538*** How Troll sex works ("Do they vomit their genetic material?". "Sure, that sounds weird enough").
539*** Whether any given character is good or evil.
540*** The nature of Skaia.
541* The author of ''Webcomic/IWasKidnappedByLesbianPiratesFromOuterSpace'' has explained that humans, including her, cannot understand the sixth sense provided by the aliens' antennae.
542* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' runs into a lot of this; part of it is that since Rachel works a lot of stuff in advance, she KNOWS what's going to come out a few months later (and will refuse to comment), and part of is that early on, Rachel often said too MUCH in the forums or elsewhere, leading to the ruling that "[[FlipFlopOfGod If it's not in the comics or at least on the main website itself, it ain't canon. Don't trust it.]]" [sic]
543** "[[NoodleIncident No, I don't know what Riding Sidesaddle is.]]"
544* In ''Webcomic/ALoonaticsTale'', Rick and Becky have so much material prepared that they can answer almost any question you have about the series. Unfortunately, so much of the material will be important to the plot of a later story (often one that they won't even get to start working on for ''years''), that the question isn't ''can'' they answer your particular question, but ''will'' they.
545* Rich "The Giant" Burlew, author of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
546** He often uses this trope when asked about aspects of the setting that he doesn't elaborate on because they don't matter to the story, with him sometimes mixing this with AnthropicPrinciple, TheLawOfConservationOfDetail, and the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality. [[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17334948&postcount=307 An example:]]
547--->I think everyone is getting way too hung up on "What If's" that would have essentially led to Malack not being in the story the way that he needed to be in the story. The role required was for an evil vampire cleric to make friends with Durkon, so that later they could turn on each other; if he wasn't evil, and he wasn't a cleric, he wouldn't have been in the story at all. Maybe there are other vampires out there doing other things, being Good and living in harmony with the world. Don't care. Don't need them for this story.
548** The Giant prefers to keep Vaarsuvius' AmbiguousGender (and that of V's spouse) ambiguous and specifies that any in-character comments on the matter are only that character's speculation. He answered one bout of forum speculation by [[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15057433&postcount=442 stating]] that he gave Vaarsuvius adopted children specifically to avoid providing any information on their gender or sexuality.
549*** Later into the comic's run, when asked in a [[https://www.patreon.com/posts/answer-post-2020-34406298 Patreon Q&A]], The Giant mused that while he personally views Vaarsuvius as [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} genderqueer]], this is only ''his'' view (and from a meta-textual perspective, to boot), and InUniverse V would never describe themselves using that specific term since the comic's InUniverse elven culture views gender as being of no particular import.
550* Since sex is never actually depicted in ''Webcomic/OutThere'', Monroe states in his blog that it's up to the reader to decide how far things go.
551-->What I’ve tried to do with ''Out There'' is have it both ways. Whichever way you think it oughta be, you win. If you think that Miriam and Chuck should have had sex, and Araceli and Rod should have had sex, and Sherry and Steven ''must'' have had sex, then okay—they had sex. Everyone who you think should have had sex with whoever they should have had sex with, ''did''. You just didn’t see it. If, on the other hand, it makes you happier to think that Miriam and Chuck made out a lot but stopped before things got too out of hand, then that’s cool too—there’s nothing in the strip that proves otherwise. Winners everywhere.
552* ''Webcomic/OzyAndMillie'': Llewellyn has addmitted that some of the stories he tells are made up. Evidently, neither Llewellyn, or the author know which ones they are.
553* T Campbell, creator of ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', is as notorious as Tom for answers like these, although usually responding to fans who should have known better.
554** He's refused to reveal whether the ''Series/HermansHead'' storyline "20 2020 Pennies" was a dream or an actual plane of existence -- which wouldn't be so bad, except that he ''[[WordOfGod did]]'' say the versions of Penny and Aggie featured there were bisexual and lesbian, respectively.
555** Following the comic's MaybeEverAfter ending, Campbell has refused to say whether [[spoiler:the title characters will permanently get back together]]. Indeed, he claims he hasn't let ''himself'' decide, as that was never the [[CentralTheme main point]] of the series.
556* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'':
557** Jeph Jacques has no plans to clarify whether Claire, a trans woman, has had surgery or not.
558** When asked at a convention whether he'd ever answer the RiddleForTheAges of whether Penelope Gaines really is Pizza Girl or not, his response was "I will... when I decide if she is Pizza Girl or not".
559* ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}'' has a comment section, which is a perfect place to seek informed and detailed answers to your questions, up to and including [[TheProducerThinksOfEverything how much money are in the character's bank accounts.]] But certain questions?
560--> "''What is Anne's natural hair colour?''"\
561"''dunno''"
562[[/folder]]
563
564[[folder:Web Original]]
565* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': While it was [[{{Fanon}} a popular headcanon]] that Purpled (the character) is an extraterrestrial, with his iconic UFO build being his mode of transportation before settling on the server, this becomes ambiguously canon when he later reveals the UFO in question to be part of his "heritage" and considers [[spoiler:its destruction]] unforgivable, [[AmbiguousSituation without giving any further context]]. When asked about this in a [=Q&A=] livestream, Purpled the content creator stated that the question was [[https://clips.twitch.tv/SmilingSuspiciousTigerPrimeMe-hA1xBVvCSD8NEKCL "best left unanswered"]], thus leaving his character AmbiguouslyHuman and the situation up to audience interpretation (at least, as of the end of Volume 1).
566* Lanzer, admin of Website/GaiaOnline, does this a lot in the weekly open interview sessions.
567* None of the editors on ''Website/OrionsArm'' will ''ever'' answer certain questions about certain setting elements. Are the Dawn Hunters real? Why did the previous galactic empires all up and disappear? "The last--" What did they find at the Hedrile? Where, exactly, does the Fargate lead? Which of the higher Archailects actually exist? Is the universe just another Bottle Universe? Are the Amalgamation Terragen or Xeno? This is in keeping with the setting; since certain things, particularly those involving the Archailects themselves, are deemed to be ultimately impossible to explain in terms that we mere humans can grasp with our tiny organic brains.
568* Burnie Burns, the creator and primary writer of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' for the first three story arcs, is generally willing to clarify anything about the series. Ask him about [[HiddenDepths Tex]], though, and he instantly shuts up. He also enjoys leaving smaller plot threads hanging for the [[WildMassGuessing wild mass guessers]] in the forums.
569** The Ultimate Fan Guide answers a lot of long-standing fan questions, but it says that Church's time travel shenanigans in Season 3 are subject to "conflicting reports", which seems to be the writers' way of saying that they don't know if it really happened or not either.
570** When asked if the Forerunners, Precursors and Flood all exist in ''Red vs. Blue'' in an interview with [=AfterBuzz=] [=TV=] or only BroadStrokes versions of them exist (if at all), Miles Luna literally gave an ambivalent shrug in response. Amusingly, Luna's response is an almost ''literal'' example of this trope in action.
571** Similarly, Jason Weight, Burnie Burns, and Miles Luna all haven't said anything definite one way or the other regarding if ''Singularity'' retroactively erased the events of Season 15 and ''The Shisno Paradox''.
572* The official policy of ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'' is that, as far as possible, everything that happens has some kind of rational, scientific explanation. In some cases, the divergence between the demands of mythology and what is scientifically plausible is so great that it cannot be bridged. To get around this (and to give the Angels and Daemons some hope of surviving the massed human firepower being thrown at them), it is stipulated that the laws of physics on Earth and in Heaven/Hell are slightly different. This results in the characters saying they have no idea why this thing is happening, so they're just going to accept that it does for now. This is, of course, the scientific method at work "we don't understand it but we'll study it until we do". Meanwhile, the engineering method of finding an empirical solution by trial and error is used to create a work-around. In some cases, these shrugs are actually puzzles that are solved later in the story line.
573* Jack Getschman, the creator of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' AbridgedSeries ''WebVideo/ScootertrixTheAbridged'', has admitted that he doesn't remember why he chose to do certain things. Most notably, why he changed Rainbow Dash's name to the bird. He also says jokes about something the audience and possibly the characters didn't get to see, are often things he doesn't either.
574* Many of the senior writers and editors of the Website/SCPFoundation never give straight answers about the details and inner workings of the Foundation and the [=SCPs=] it contains. The stock reply to lore questions usually is to figure it out for yourself. Or that there is no canon:
575-->'''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=utbmk5kxkkqah7d8k16jx7su&page=9#202 Dr. Gears]]:''' At the end of the day, people can call it canon, non-cannon, brilliant, and stupid, and be right and wrong all at the same time. When dealing with the SCP, you have to understand that we took Canon out behind the barn and shot it in the head a long, long time ago. [''sic'']
576* Discussed in WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera's review of ''Film/EscapeFromTomorrow'': the reason that the powers that be recruited Jerk to watch/review the film is because none of them (including some who worked on the film) could [[MindScrew figure out what the hell]] [[GainaxEnding the ending was supposed to represent]], or whether director Randy Moore thought the film had any deeper meaning than "Creator/{{Disney}} is bad".
577* [[TeasingCreator afroakuma]] seems to do this with roughly half the questions he gets in the ''TabletopGame/VoteUpACampaignSetting'' discussion threads. More often than not, he appears to do it ForTheEvulz; certain questions have been noted by him to be unanswerable for valid(ish) reasons, though.
578[[/folder]]
579
580[[folder:Western Animation]]
581* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
582** "What Was Missing" implied that Princess Bubblegum and Marceline [[HomoeroticSubtext used to be romantically involved]]. Creator/RebeccaSugar, who co-wrote the episode, told a fan who asked about the nature of the duo's past relationship that "I don't think it's any of your business". Later statements [[WordOfGay were far less ambiguous]]: both Marceline's voice actor and the show's creator stated they did used to date, and the latter seasons show them slowly [[OldFlame rekindling this relationship]], [[spoiler:which leads to them sharing a kiss in the GrandFinale and beginning to date again]]. Sugar's initial statement notably came when she was still in the closet regarding her own bisexuality, whereas [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse her later show]] would be far more explicit about LGBT themes.
583** Adam Muto when asked about the mind control worms at the end of "Evicted" responded with this:
584--->'''Adam Muto''': That's a very good question. He's actually- [[MindControl WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO!!!]]
585* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
586** WordOfGod says that [[spoiler:Azula]] ''could'' eventually [[spoiler:regain her sanity and/or redeem herself]], but didn't say if she actually ''will''. This was likely because a definite "yes" would feel cheap, but a definite "no" would seem rather harsh. Series head writer Aaron Ehasz [[WordOfSaintPaul claims]] that this would have been a storyline in [[WhatCouldHaveBeen a proposed fourth season]] and that the answer would have been a "yes", but creators Michael Dante [=DiMartino=] and Bryan Konietzko firmly deny every aspect of that statment.
587** The creators once gave a rather playful shrug when a fan asked about the name of the previous airbender Avatar who appeared in a flashback. Their answer was "Susan?". She was eventually revealed to be named Yangchen, with her story being expanded upon several years later [[Literature/TheDawnOfYangchen in her own novel]].
588* When Creator/MikeJudge is asked where ''[[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead's]]'' InvisibleParents are, he'll say they're in the same place as [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown's]] parents.
589* The AmazingTechnicolorPopulation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' has lead to a lot of speculation about the ethnicities of several supporting characters - The most popular being the {{Fanon}} theory that Skeeter is [[TokenBlackFriend black]]. In response to this, Jim Jinkins has said "I'm like, 'Well, he's blue!' [...] If that's how you see him, that's great. It's not a bad thing, but I never planned it. Skeeter is blue, and he's Doug's friend".
590* ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' writer, Michael Marlow says he hadn't planned an explanation as to why Beatrice turns out to be alive in the final episode and refuses to reveal the reason he came up with since until the show gets revived.
591 * For ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', this trope came into place for the DistantFinale in ''WesternAnimation/ChannelChasers'', which depicted Timmy's two children Tommy and Tammy, whose mother was never seen nor mentioned. Butch Hartman decided to respond with that there is no answer to who their mother is and that she can be whoever you want her to be.
592* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
593** A common question fans have wondered was whether other characters or the Griffins could understand what Stewie was saying. When asked this question (on the early season [=DVDs=]), creator Creator/SethMacFarlane replied, "Well, Brian can understand him". Chris also seems to understand him just fine. The topic has also been [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] several times, with the general rule of thumb seemingly to be that older characters only understand him [[RuleOfFunny when it would aid a joke]].
594** When asked who drove the car that killed Brian, the creators jokingly responded that it was Justin Bieber.
595* Creator/GregWeisman:
596** In regards to ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', given that he's already gone into a fair amount of detail about future plotlines he'd do if he ever got the chance with a new animated series or comic, most questions that are left tend to receive the simple answer of "I'm not going to answer that at this time" or some variant thereof. Man's gotta keep some secrets if those chances do happen.
597** When ever asked about the color of a character that has yet appeared in the show or comics, Greg refuses to answer because he is color blind and needs help with the coloring choice of his characters.
598** Weisman is very fond of answering with "No comment" when asked about specific elements relating to the world of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. Oftentimes, it appears that he does so in order to avoid potential spoilers about future episodes.
599* Creator/AlexHirsch answered plenty of questions about ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', but since it's a mystery series, he couldn't answer all of them without giving spoilers. He came up with a number of unorthodox things to put in place of spoilers, including just posting pictures of axolotls -- which becomes a bizarre sort of BrickJoke in the GrandFinale, as there's a backward message from [[spoiler:a dying Bill Cipher calling out to "Axolotl" as if invoking the power of a god]]. A decent number of the bigger questions were answered in ''Literature/GravityFallsJournal3'', such as Dipper's real name, but many others (such as questions to [[AmbiguouslyJewish the Pines family's religion]]) receive either a shrug or have him invoke DeathOfTheAuthor so he doesn't have to think about it.
600* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': The show's creator and writing staff have regularly stated that they enjoy keeping things ambiguous and letting fans come to their own conclusions about certain aspects of the train and character motivations. One of the most notable instances is the ending of Book 2, where [[spoiler:One-One decides to let MT leave the Train]]. Even they don't agree on why the character did that; the episode's writer believes that it was purely pragmatic and that they just wanted to solve the dilemma as fast as possible, while another believes that it was LoopholeAbuse done out of sympathy.
601* Edward Kay has been this way about a few aspects of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', such as the characters' ages, the full extent of Lucius' powers, if [[ShipTease Jimmy and Heloise are getting together]], and (the biggest one of all), the true nature of Miseryville. On that last one, he compared it to Franz Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'', saying that Jimmy may literally be in Hell (the show's original pitch and what most fans believe), be in an alien world/dimension, or even just be dreaming in a coma. (Although the episode title "A Cold Day In Miseryville" clearly points to the idea of Hell.)
602* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Throughout the series, Mr. Cat is portrayed as AmbiguouslyBi. The creators themselves have stated that they do not know what his sexuality is.
603* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' co-creator Bob Schooley once stated on [[http://ronstoppable.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=genkp&thread=12815&page=4 the fandom's most popular forum]] that they subscribe to DeathOfTheAuthor: that is, there isn't one "right" answer to most of the fans' questions, as the series belongs to the fans to spin any way they want.
604* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'' has the nature of the apocalypse that occurred 200 years before the beginning of the show. Creator Rad Sechrist has said that all the writers have their own ideas and that no character in-universe knows either. He and producer Bill Wolkoff also said in one interview that even if they sat down and came up with a single satisfying answer, it wouldn't matter, since there would've been no way to actually address it in the show itself without completely veering away from the MythArc.
605* When asked if WesternAnimation/{{Mickey|Mouse}} and WesternAnimation/{{Minnie|Mouse}} are married or not, Creator/WaltDisney said they are married, but sometimes [[AnimatedActors play an unmarried couple]].
606* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
607** Lauren Faust likes to occasionally answer questions about the show in her Website/DeviantArt comments page. Several times, though, she has refused to answer questions, saying that she has an idea of the answer, but doesn't want to tie herself down to any particular position when a different answer might come up later as a plot point, and sometimes the process of writing produces more interesting answers than trying to figure it out ahead of time. Other times, she's mentioned that she simply doesn't have an answer because it's not really something she goes out of her way to think about.
608---> '''Lauren''': "We don't hammer logic that hard on this show".
609** When she [[GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld left the show after the second season]], her responses migrated to "My theory is X, but I don't know how the current show runners will handle that"..
610** One user asked Jayson Thiessen whether or not Tirek from the Season 4 [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 fin]][[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 ale]] was the Pony of Shadows from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E3CastleManeia "Castle Mane-ia"]]. [[https://twitter.com/goldenrusset/status/465223414631116800 His response?]]
611--->'''Jayson Thiessen''': hehe
612** When asked on Twitter if Sunburst is Sunset Shimmer's brother, "Big Jim" Miller said that he didn't know.
613** After the premiere of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E26TheLastProblem The Last Problem]]," the show's GrandFinale which also featured a TimeSkip, a Q&A was held with showrunner Big Jim Miller on Twitter. Miller revealed that a lot of things which fans wondered about (including in that episode) were intentionally left vague, never got discussed, or were outside of his control to conceivably answer.
614*** The writers were toying with a subtle nod to the idea of Appledash (Applejack x Rainbow Dash) and Yonabar (Yona x Sandbar), and had a more concrete indication that Fluttercord (Fluttershy x Discord) was canon. Ultimately, they decided to make the moments in question more ambiguous to allow fans to continue playing and debating about said ships. Applejack x Rainbow Dash would obviously confirm the {{Fanon}} theory that Rainbow Dash is a lesbian. WordOfGod simply said it was wrong to assume Rainbow Dash is a lesbian simply based on stereotypes.
615*** As to whether or not characters who didn't appear in the episode after the TimeSkip were dead, Miller said that just because someone didn't appear doesn't mean they're dead.
616*** A lot of "what happened to [Character X]?" questions either never got an answer from the crew, or Hasbro never approved an idea that used them. As such, Miller said that it's up to the fans to decide. (There were a few exceptions to this: He said the real Grogar is still out there, Lightning Dust is still alive, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow are in suspended animation as [[TakenForGranite statues]] (implying dreamless sleep over [[AndIMustScream what it was like for Discord]]), Granny Smith died of old age before the final episode, and Applejack's parents are also confirmed dead before the first episode).
617* The creators of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' claim that the title characters have [[VagueAge no definitive age]] (despite being nine in the pilot), just that they are "less than fifteen". They did this after seeing how well different age groups all identified with them. (Eventually, they were said to be ten years old).
618** Likewise they won't bother answering questions about Ferb's MissingMom or Phineas's DisappearedDad; they would rather fans just focus on the Flynn-Fletchers as a happy blended family. Fans speculate, however, that the episode "What Do It Do?" ''may'' have been meant to [[{{Jossed}} Joss]] the fan theory that [[spoiler:[[MadScientist Doofenshmirtz]]]] is Phineas' father, as he mentions having met Linda only once years before Phineas could have been born.
619*** [[spoiler: It's not Doof,]] [[WordOfGod they said so in an interview]]. Not that this stops fanfic writers from making him so; you wouldn't believe how many stories there are that use this.
620* Creator/JohnKricfalusi, creator of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', apparently answered the question of whether Ren and Stimpy were gay with "I don't know, it's none of my business".
621** [[FlipFlopOfGod Of course, then ''Adult Party Cartoon'' made them out-and-out gay]], but most [[FanonDiscontinuity people exposed to that show throw it out of continuity...]]
622** On the ''Adult Party Cartoon'' DVD, John K. states that Ren & Stimpy's sexuality varies from episode to episode. The show ran on NegativeContinuity from day one. The closest thing we ever got to a straight answer (no pun intended) was John K. saying they're gay [[RuleOfFunny when it's funny]].
623* One question that ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' creator Creator/MattGroening has long been asked is WhereTheHellIsSpringfield The place is supposed to be an EverytownAmerica, but there's been a lot of interest in exactly which state it's in. Groening has consistently shrugged at that one, but he's done it in many different ways over the years:
624** An avid fan wrote a highly detailed analysis in the ''Simpsons'' magazine as to Springfield's exact location. This led to him ultimately eliminating all 50 states, so he gave up and asked Groening straight up where it was. He said, "Springfield exists in a state of confusion, but mostly it's a state of mind".
625** The name "Springfield" was chosen because it's a very common name for towns and cities in America -- but one commentary pointed out that it wasn't the ''most'' common name, that honor going to "Riverside". On hearing this, Groening hatched an idea for an episode where the Simpsons move to one of those Riversides.
626** Many have speculated that Springfield is in [[spoiler:Oregon]], in part because Groening grew up there (and it ''does'' have a Springfield in it). It also kinda jives with longtime director David Silverman claiming it's in [[spoiler:"North Takoma"]], which [[spoiler:doesn't exist but perhaps comes from the city of Tacoma in neighboring Washington state]]. Twenty years into the show's [[LongRunner long-running tenure]], they [[http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/04/10/impsons-creator-real-springfield-is-in-oregon/ kinda made it official]], which kinda took away the magic -- at least until Groening clarified that he only ''based'' Springfield on that location, not that it ''is'' that location. In the true spirit of this trope, he went on to say, "The true location of Springfield is in any state but yours".
627** The show itself [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield has made a ton of jokes]] about where Springfield is, with everything from TheUnreveal to establishing it to be in an impossible location. One episode establishes "West Springfield" as "three times the size of Texas". ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' says it borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky, which is geographically impossible. And "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E22BehindTheLaughter Behind the Laughter]]" called them a "Northern Kentucky family", but ''(a)'' this was about the Simpsons as actors rather than characters (it's a weird meta episode) and ''(b)'' there are variant recordings of that particular line which can occasionally be heard on reruns.
628* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has "is Seth alive?". The ''Literature/TheMagicBookOfSpells'', a companion book [[AllThereInTheManual describing the history of the show's setting]], introduced the character [[TheDreaded Seth]], the leader of the Septarians as well as Toffee's boss. It was under him that Toffee killed Moon's mother Comet, and he was described as a {{foil}} to Mina, being a monster that detests Mewmans to the point of wanting nothing less than their complete and total genocide. Within minutes of each other during a Q&A session after the show's finale, series producer Dominic Bisignano and show creator Daron Nefcy gave contradictory statements on the matter; the former stated that he's still alive and would play a major role if the show ever came back, while Nefcy states that Seth had been dead "for some time now".
629* The question of "Who is Mysterion?" from the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Coon". In the original commentary, Trey Parker and Matt Stone flat-out stated that they don't know who Mysterion is, and that there was no specific character who they intended Mysterion to be. Fans continued to debate the issue and presented evidence backing up various theories, with Clyde and Kenny usually being the most popular candidates. The issue was finally revisited in the three-part "Coon And Friends" Trilogy, with a fan poll between the first and second parts about who viewers thought he might be. (In case you're wondering, [[spoiler:it's [[TheyKilledKenny Kenny]]]]).
630** They claim on the commentary they decided his identity very late during production on "the first one", and seem to mean the original episode, but its a little unclear.
631** Matt and Trey don't tend to plan too far ahead, and generally answer questions in a very casual off-the-cuff manner, so many of their statements can appear Shrug of God.
632* Barriss Offee from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' was PutOnAPrisonBus following her FaceHeelTurn, with WordOfGod only confirming that she was not executed nor turned into an Inquisitor. Both Creator/DaveFiloni and Leland Chee have been questioned on whether her dying in Order 66 (as shown in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' deleted scenes) still applies, but seemingly preferred to leave it open to interpretation.
633* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
634** During a charity drawing livestream with Alex Hirsch, series creator Rebecca Sugar mentioned that Gems use hard light constructs for their bodies, causing the former to ask what would happen [[ArmorPiercingQuestion if a Gem spent a long time in the dark]]. Sugar wasn't comfortable answering, so Hirsch retracted the question apologetically.
635** Writers Ben Levin and Matt Burnett were once asked what would happen if [[spoiler:post-resurrection Lars]] went into Lion's Pocket Dimension, then went through the other portal that comes out of [[spoiler:his own head]]. Both admitted to not considering such a strange situation, but theorize things like creating a RecursiveReality or self-duplication. The show's creator [[https://www.reddit.com/r/stevenuniverse/comments/aidc83/rebecca_lamar_and_miki_here_ask_us_anything/een8wm4/?context=8&depth=9 later stated]] it would be a combination of the two.
636* ''WesternAnimation/SummerMemories'': WordOfGod is that Jason and Ronnie are {{Author Avatar}}s for series creator Adam Yaniv and his best friend (with whom he founded their indie animation studio A&N Studios with). However, he is deliberately vague about who is based on who, with the episode "Summer Forgettory" lampshading this [[spoiler:when Jason and Ronnie meet them ("Listen, I could be either one of you!").]]
637* Glen Murakami of ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' fame is (in)famous for not caring about the finer points that get the {{Fandom}} up in arms. The Shrug Of God is the official answer to ''anything'' related to whether or not it's in continuity with the other Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse cartoons, anything to do with the characters' origins or out-of-costume lives (most famously, which Robin it is), and pretty much anything not detailed onscreen. General fan consensus is that ''Teen Titans'' isn't part of the [=DCAU=] and Robin is Dick Grayson, but ThePowersThatBe have never answered yes or no, not considering these things to be important.[[labelnote:With that in mind...]]Show writer David Slack [[WordOfSaintPaul has stated that]] the Robin we see is Dick Grayson, with everything from the show itself (the relationship with Starfire, the scene with two trapeze artists falling to their doom, the series being based on the 1980s incarnation of the team, "Larry" aka [[SdrawkcabName Nosyarg Kcid]], Robin becoming Nightwing in an alternate future, etc). backing him up. Both the [[ComicBook/TeenTitansGo comic book continuation]] and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' confirm this Robin to be Dick Grayson as well.[[/labelnote]]
638** The ''Teen Titans'' version of Speedy shows up in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', so take that as you will.
639* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': After Starscream found out [[MesACrowd each of his clones was part of his personality]], he asked his OppositeSexClone what she represented and she responded "[[YouDoNOTWantToKnow Don't ask!]]" When someone put the same question to lead character designer Derrick J. Wyatt on [[http://community.livejournal.com/tf_animated/271043.html an online Q&A session]] he responded "[[{{Squick}} I try not to think about that one!]]" He also said that she has a name, but wouldn't say anything beyond it not being Susan, Dirge, Nightbird, Laserbeak, or Laserwave.
640** And her name was confirmed at Botcon 2009: [[spoiler:Slipstream]].
641** In a much different version of this, Marty Isenberg said they have no idea the significance of Professor Sumdac's name being "Cadmus" backwards as it was decided before they got involved.
642** At one point, Wyatt refused to answer questions about [[spoiler:how Sari's protoform appeared in Isaac's lab]]. If that story is going to be told, it's going to be in some form of new Animated fiction.
643* This was done by the creators of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' for a subplot that seemed to be unambiguous in canonicity. According to Doc Hammer, the writers initially hadn't decided if Myra is the boys' birth mother but decided against it for the final season.
644** They've openly admitted that they don't plan anything, so chances are if it hasn't been written into an episode, they don't know the answers any more than the fans.
645** It happened again between Seasons 3 and 4 regarding the purpose of the ORB. This, however, was eventually answered in Season 4's "The Revenge Society" - [[spoiler:the ORB is useless, because instead of killing Lloyd Venture to prevent its use, his bodyguard Sandow broke it instead. In the commentary for the scene where this is finally revealed, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer took great joy in answering the questions in such a way.]]
646[[/folder]]

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